Spring Break
Hog netters take on ITA Central Regional
Derek Oxford
Issue date: 10/24/07 Section: Sports
- Page 1 of 1
The Arkansas men's tennis team, led by head coach Robert Cox, heads to Tulsa, Okla., this weekend to participate in the annual ITA Central Regional.
In his 19th season with the Razorbacks, Cox has engineered 247 victories for the program, along with nine NCAA Tournament appearances. His teams have finished with a final ranking in the top 40 twelve times.
This year is no different, as he has assembled a wealth of talented netters eager to etch their names into Razorback tennis history.
With four tournaments under their belt, the Razorbacks have a lot of confidence heading into the regional. They have already played in Tulsa once this season, as they traveled there to take part in the Polo ITA All-American tournament.
Blake Strode has become one of the leaders on the squad. The junior, who hails from St. Louis, played as the Razorbacks No. 1 last season, performing well in a number of critical Southeastern Conference matches. He was ranked as high as No. 43 by the ITA and earned first-team All-SEC honors.
He struggled just a little bit at the ITA All-American matches a couple of weeks ago, losing his first round match-up against Texas' Dimitar Kutrovsky, 6-3, 6-3.
"Although, [Blake] didn't come out on top on the winning end today, he played some good tennis," Cox said.
In last year's ITA Central Regional, Strode played his way to the semifinals in singles and defeated the country's No. 11 ranked Daniel Byrnes of Oklahoma State during the tournament.
As a freshman, Strode also performed well at the ITA Central Regional, this time in doubles. He and his partner, Matt Roberts, advanced to the semifinals of the regional.
There are some new faces on the team this year, which include Ryan Harris of Shawnee, Okla., Tariq Ismail of Zimbabwe, Christopher Nott of England and Nicholas Spinazze of Shreveport, La.
Spinazze has already added a couple of wins to his total this year, surpassing expectations.
These netters will do their best to continue the tradition that Cox has built on campus as a nationally competitive tennis program.
"It's very competitive playing the nation's best, but obviously we expect to come out on top," Cox said.
Junior Connor Smith performed well a couple of weeks ago in the South Carolina Invitational, and he will hope to build on that stellar play this weekend.
Strode and senior Colin Mascall advanced to the final in doubles at the South Carolina Invitational.
Smith and his partner, sophomore Drew Sosebee, one-upped the pair of Strode and Mascall by winning their doubles bracket in the South Carolina Invitational.
In his 19th season with the Razorbacks, Cox has engineered 247 victories for the program, along with nine NCAA Tournament appearances. His teams have finished with a final ranking in the top 40 twelve times.
This year is no different, as he has assembled a wealth of talented netters eager to etch their names into Razorback tennis history.
With four tournaments under their belt, the Razorbacks have a lot of confidence heading into the regional. They have already played in Tulsa once this season, as they traveled there to take part in the Polo ITA All-American tournament.
Blake Strode has become one of the leaders on the squad. The junior, who hails from St. Louis, played as the Razorbacks No. 1 last season, performing well in a number of critical Southeastern Conference matches. He was ranked as high as No. 43 by the ITA and earned first-team All-SEC honors.
He struggled just a little bit at the ITA All-American matches a couple of weeks ago, losing his first round match-up against Texas' Dimitar Kutrovsky, 6-3, 6-3.
"Although, [Blake] didn't come out on top on the winning end today, he played some good tennis," Cox said.
In last year's ITA Central Regional, Strode played his way to the semifinals in singles and defeated the country's No. 11 ranked Daniel Byrnes of Oklahoma State during the tournament.
As a freshman, Strode also performed well at the ITA Central Regional, this time in doubles. He and his partner, Matt Roberts, advanced to the semifinals of the regional.
There are some new faces on the team this year, which include Ryan Harris of Shawnee, Okla., Tariq Ismail of Zimbabwe, Christopher Nott of England and Nicholas Spinazze of Shreveport, La.
Spinazze has already added a couple of wins to his total this year, surpassing expectations.
These netters will do their best to continue the tradition that Cox has built on campus as a nationally competitive tennis program.
"It's very competitive playing the nation's best, but obviously we expect to come out on top," Cox said.
Junior Connor Smith performed well a couple of weeks ago in the South Carolina Invitational, and he will hope to build on that stellar play this weekend.
Strode and senior Colin Mascall advanced to the final in doubles at the South Carolina Invitational.
Smith and his partner, sophomore Drew Sosebee, one-upped the pair of Strode and Mascall by winning their doubles bracket in the South Carolina Invitational.
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