University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Draw No. 10 Bruins In First Round Of ITA Indoors
February 11, 2015 | Men's Tennis
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The North Carolina men's tennis team will square off with UCLA at 1 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time) Friday in the first round of the ITA Indoor Championships at Midtown Athletic Club in Chicago. Coincidentally, both teams' seeds in the draw are identical to their rankings in the ITA's most recent poll, with UNC checking in at No. 7 and UCLA at No. 10.
The Tar Heels (8-1) enter Friday after notching two wins in a doubleheader last Wednesday against Campbell and NC Central. UCLA, meanwhile, enters with an overall mark of 5-2, with its two losses coming against No. 4 Georgia and No. 14 Florida as a part of the SEC/Pac-12 Showdown in Athens, Ga.
The winner of UNC/UCLA will take on the winner of second-seeded Oklahoma and 15th-seeded Ole Miss on Saturday at 1 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time).
Tuesday represented a significant shake up in the ITA individual rankings for a number of Carolina players. Sophomore Brayden Schnur is now ranked No. 6 nationally, while sophomore Ronnie Schneider jumped up eight spots to No. 19. Freshman Robert Kelly represents UNC's biggest mover, leaping from unranked to 75th nationally. Sophomore Jack Murray also made his debut in the ITA's rankings with the release of Tuesday's poll. The Michigan native is ranked No. 104.
Carolina also features a ranked doubles team for the first time this dual-match season in seniors Esben Hess-Olesen and Oystein Steiro. The duo, which is 4-0 this spring, is slotted at No. 27.
The Bruins boast two ranked singles players in Mackenzie McDonald (No. 2) and Dennis Mkrtchian (No. 44). McDonald was named a singles All-American as a freshman in 2013-14. UCLA also features the nation's sixth-ranked doubles pair in McDonald and Martin Redlicki.
This weekend's tournament will be hosted by the University of Illinois and consists of a 16-team field of teams all ranked in the nation's top-25.
Matches throughout the weekend will be live-streamed courtesy of Midtown Athletic Club partner Playsight.com. A link to the live stream will be accessible via both http://www.itatennis.com and midtown.com/Chicago.
Stay tuned to GoHeels.com and @carolinatennis on Twitter for updates. For more information, visit the ITA's tournament central page at this link.
Players Mentioned
