Feb. 16, 2011
SEATTLE, WA - The matchups for the 2011 ITA National Men's Team Indoor Championships have been set and the Aggies of Texas A&M are seeded #9 and drew #8-seed Illinois in the opening round match hosted by the University of Washington, Feb. 18-21. This 37th edition of the annual championship will be played at the Nordstrom Tennis Center and the Seattle Sports Club and the Aggies will open the competition at 8:30 p.m. CENTRAL (6:30 pm Pacific) at the Seattle Sports Club on Friday.
"The team is really excited about competing in Seattle this weekend," Aggie head coach Steve Denton said before the team left early Wednesday. "Opening against Illinois, who already has some quality wins early this season, will present us a very tough challenge. Last year, they beat us at their place, 4-3. I believe both teams are much improved so it should be a very good match."
"I know our guys are excited to mix it up with the top teams in the country," Denton explained. "It is an honor to be one of the top ranked teams here. Hopefully, we learned a valuable lesson from our indoor match against No. 5 Texas (a 4-3 loss on Feb. 4). It is time for us to see what we are made of."
All 15 of the No. 1 seeds advanced from the third annual ITA Division I Kick-Off Weekend to join host Washington in the field. Texas A&M, 5-1 on the year, defeated No. 33 Mississippi State and No. 39 Miami to advance to Seattle. The lone Aggie loss was a 4-3 decision against No. 5 Texas indoors in Houston. The Aggies have also defeated No. 70 Troy.
Illinois knocked off Denver and No. 23 Notre Dame to reach Seattle. The Illini squad brings a 5-2 record to the Northwest with the only losses coming against top-ranked Virginia (7-0) and No. 3-ranked Tennessee (5-2). The Illini also has wins over No. 17 Duke and No. 13 Kentucky.
The winner of the first-round match between A&M and Illinois will face the winner of Washington versus Virginia. The Cavaliers are currently the No. 1-ranked team in the land and are the three-time defending champion in this event. The Huskies of Washington are ranked #29 in the latest ITA rankings.
Leading the way for the Aggie squad is the top-ranked doubles tandem of Austin Krajicek (Brandon, FL) and Jeff Dadamo (Tampa, FL). The Aggie All-American duo is undefeated this spring and on Feb. 4 in Houston defeated the No. 2-ranked doubles tandem of Ed Corrie and Jean Andersen from the Texas Longhorns, 9-8 (3). Three other Aggie doubles teams are also ranked this week with Alberto Bautista (McAllen, TX) and Colin Hoover (Victoria, TX) ranked No. 57 while Alexis Klegou (Dunkerque, France) and Austin Klores (Franklin, TX) are ranked No. 62 and Niall Angus (London, England) and John Lewis (Birmingham, AL) are right behind them at No. 63.
In singles rankings, Krajicek is the top-ranked Aggie at No. 29 while Dadamo is ranked No. 49 and Klegou is No. 121.
Illinois' tandem of Dennis Nevolo and Abe Souza are ranked No. 16 in doubles, while Nevolo is the No. 8 singles player in the land. Johnny Hamui is ranked No. 33 and Souza is ranked No. 65 in the latest ITA singles rankings.
This marks the first appearance by the Texas A&M men's tennis team in the National Team Indoor Championships since 2004 when Duke beat the Aggies, 4-2, in the opening round. A&M advanced to the second round of the tournament in 2003 by defeating Ole Miss, 4-3, but dropped the second round match to Illinois, 4-0. The first team appearance came in 2001 with A&M defeating Virginia Commonwealth, 4-0, before dropping a 4-3 decision to the No. 3-ranked UCLA squad in the second round.
SEEDINGS & PAIRINGS FOR ITA NATIONAL INDOORS
#1 Virginia vs. #16 Washington
#8 Illinois vs. #9 Texas A&M
#4 Ohio State vs. #13 Texas Tech
#5 Texas vs. #12 Kentucky
#6 UCLA vs. #11 Louisville
#3 Tennessee vs. #14 Georgia
#7 Stanford vs. #10 Florida
#2 USC vs. #15 Duke
LATEST ITA TEAM RANKINGS (As of Feb. 14)
1. Virginia*
2. USC*
3. Tennessee*
4. Ohio State*
5. Texas*
6. UCLA*
7. Stanford*
8. Baylor
9. Illinois*
10. TEXAS A&M*
11. Florida*
12. Louisville*
13. Kentucky*
14. Texas Tech*
15. Georgia Tech
16. Georgia*
17. Duke*
18. Ole Miss
19. California
20. Pepperdine
21. Oklahoma
22. Auburn
23. Notre Dame
24. North Carolina
25. Florida State
29. Washington*
*Competing in the ITA Indoors in Seattle.