Men's tennis team weighs in at ITA Regionals
10/20/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
The men???s tennis team will be in Las Vegas, Nev. Wednesday-Friday, representing the University of Montana in the Wilson Intercollegiate Tennis Mountain Regional Championship. The tournament will be an opportunity for the Grizzlies to match up with top players from the region and to qualify for ITA Nationals to be held November 5-8 in New Haven Conn. ??
Montana athletes competing will include: seniors Mikolaj Borkowski and Raydner Ramos, junior David Cysneiros, sophomores Ben DeMarois and Carl Kuschke, and freshman Michael Facey.
Thus far this season, Grizzly performance peaks have included a semifinal appearance by Borkowski at the Montana State Open. In that same tournament, Borkowki and doubles partner Kuschke were able to upset the No. 1 seeded Montana State doubles team, winning 6-2, 6-0 to go on to the final. The two would lose out in a narrow loss to a non-collegiate Bozeman pair 6-3, 7-6 (4). Borkowski and Kuschke would make their second final of the season at the Eastern Washington/Gonzaga Invite in Cheney, losing out to a powerful Idaho team in the final 8-5.
Also competing in Vegas will be the doubles team of Ramos and Cysneiros. After a disappointing quarterfinal loss in Cheney, the pair missed out on the competitive Boise State Invite due to illness.
Of Ramos and Cysneiros, Ben Demarois said, ???Ray and Dave have been relatively untested this season. Mikolaj and Carl have come through a few times already, but we think that that number two team could have equal results this week in Vegas.???
After first being paired up from the skeleton squad that traveled to Boise, Demarois and Mike Facey will again be together as Montana???s third doubles squad at Regionals. ????????
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28th-year UM coach Kris Nord, said, ???After a few rough weeks with some sick athletes, it is beginning to feel like things are really solidifying for our guys. I like having an opportunity for them to step in against the absolute top end of the region. ??In ITAs, there will be no bad matches, and it can become all about gaining an upset against a ranked player. We have had some great performances against some stiff competition so far this year and the guys are ready. I feel like our doubles teams will be able to continue what we have seen so far this fall.???
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Of his matchup with doubles player Kuschke, Borkowski said, ???Carl and I have had some good tournaments so far this season. We???ve got into a few finals, played well together, and have good chemistry.?? We seem to compliment each other???s strengths and weaknesses well.?? I???d say that that is a big part of having success as a team, understanding what each player can add to the game. ??Carl, for example, is a really aggressive player, serving and returning well.?? He is always two steps ahead of me at the net, knowing exactly where to go. I may not be as powerful as he is, but I sometimes know things like when to throw a lob, adding a variety to his aggressive style.???
Borkowski will be making his third trip to Vegas with the team, and says, ???The team goal this week will be to improve upon our performance from last year, where we did have a few wins, but did not play as well as we might have.?? For me as a senior and probably for Raydner as well, this will be our last trip to Regionals, so we have some expectations of ourselves and will just hope to play well. If we can all do that, we will get some good results for the team.???
Results from daily play in the main draw and consolation feeds of the Mountain region will be available at http://www.itatennis.com/Events/Wilson_ITA_Regional_Championships.htm.
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