Tennis Opens 2020 Season with UT Invitational
TAMPA, Fla. - The University of Tampa Tennis Team will start the season off with the Opening Weekend UT Invitational at the Naimoli and Young Family Tennis Complex. Florida Southern, St. Petersburg College, and St. Mary's University compile the four-team field.
Schedule:
Each player will play three doubles and three singles matches.
Friday, January 31: Doubles matches from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. (3 matches per player)
Saturday, February 1: Singles matches from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (2 matches per player)
Sunday, February 2: Singles matches from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. (1 match per player)
Location: Naimoli and Young Family Tennis Complex | Tampa, Fla. | 400 N Blvd, Tampa, FL 33606
About Tampa: Coach Al DuFaux leads Tampa with high expectations after a 12-8 record in 2019. Tampa begins the 2020 season outside of the Top 25 rankings; however, the Spartans are receiving votes to be ranked. Last season the Spartans played against both Florida Southern and St. Petersburg College. UT defeated SPC 6-3 in an exhibition match but lost to FSC 6-1. Key victories came for the Spartans in 2019 over two ranked opponents (#47 Palm Beach Atlantic and #43 Rollins) both by a score of 4-3. Tampa sported a 4-6 conference record in the Sunshine State Conference yet went 7-3 at home. Tampa has a very young core of players with two freshmen and five sophomores (seven undergraduates out of 11 total players). Expect big things from Vanina Iordanova, a returning senior and number one singles player in 2019, and two stand-out transfers from Iowa State University: Ekaterina Grib and Savannah Williams. Tampa opened six in the SSC preseason poll.
About Florida Southern: Florida Southern was voted fifth in the Sunshine State Conference preseason poll after a 15-8 (6-4 SSC) season in 2019. The Mocs defeated the second-ranked West Florida Argonauts early in the season and had victories over both Embry-Riddle and Rollins (both ranked 47th at the time). The Moccasins 2019 season ended with a 4-0 loss in the SSC Tournament Quarterfinal to sixth-ranked Nova Southeastern, followed by a 4-2 loss to fourth-ranked Saint Leo in the NCAA South Region Semifinal on May 13, 2019. FSC lost their top three singles players: Selin Devrimici, Lorena Rionda, and Natalija Popovic after the 2019 season. This void leaves 2019's number four singles player, senior Magna Stepnik, and others the ability to step-up and perform.
About St. Petersburg College: The Titans had an average 2019 season going 3-6 overall with a 3-3 record in the Florida State College Activities Association (FSCAA). SPC is led by 10th-year head coach Phil Girardi. Girardi has led the Titans to the NJCAA Nationals seven times, and most notably the team finished #3 ranked in 2017, winning the doubles championship. All three matches won by the Titans were slim, winning 5-4 over Broward College, State College of Florida, and Eastern Florida State College.
About St. Mary's University: The Rattlers won the Heartland Conference Championship in 2019 with victories over three seed DBU and one seed St. Edwards. SMU lost to #13 MSU Texas 4-3 on May 13, 2019, in the South Central Regional. St. Mary's University is a part of the Lone Star Conference for the 2020 season and will look to improve upon an impressive 14-8 record last year. The Rattlers will come from Texas into Tampa with confidence as they were 4-0 in neutral site games in 2019. There are no seniors for the Rattlers squad this season. In a 4-3 defeat to highly ranked West Florida in 2019, the Rattlers won all three doubles matches. Only one of six doubles players involved in those victories are on SMU's 2020 roster (Ashley Penshorn).
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