WICHITA, Kan.—The Wichita State men's tennis team will begin the dual portion of the 2018 campaign Wednesday at 3 p.m., traveling to Ithaca, N.Y., to take on Buffalo and host Cornell, Thursday at 4 p.m.
ON BUFFALO:
Wednesday's contest marks the first time the Shockers and Bulls will meet on the court. Buffalo is coming off a MAC Tournament Championship in 2017, and a spot in the NCAA DI Men's Team Championship. Sophomore Hao Sheng Koay leads the Bulls, who were picked to second to win the MAC Conference. The Bulls return six players from a season ago, and add freshmen Nickolas Frisk and Matthew Johnson to their lineup. The match will be the first of the 2018 season for Buffalo.
ON CORNELL:
Wichita State and Cornell will meet up for just the second time in school history, with the last meeting a season ago in Wichita. Cornell snapped the Shockers' streak of 11-straight victories at home. WSU won the doubles point against then No. 21 ranked Cornell, but fell short in singles play, losing 4-2. The Big Red are coming off a share of the Ivy League Championship and a round of 32 appearance at the NCAA DI Men's Team Championship in 2017, after topping Rice in the opening round. Cornell returns their top two players from last season, including David Volfson, who ranks No. 95 in latest ITA Rankings for singles. Cornell is led by head coach Silviu Tanasoiu, in his sixth season with the program. Tanasoiu guided the Big Red to a 22-4 record in 2016-17 and finished the season ranked No. 26. The match will be the first of the 2018 season for Cornell.
2017 In Review
The Shockers finished the 2016-17 season with a 13-13 record (1-2 in MVC) under first-year head coach
Danny Bryan. The Shockers claimed the trophy at the Pacific Invite in Stockton, Calif. including a 4-3 victory over No. 39 Cal Poly. WSU also knocked off UT-Arlington (4-0) and Fresno State (4-3). Sophomore
Haru Inoue ranked as high as No. 71 in the ITA Rankings, and was ranked for eight weeks during the season. Inoue, who was named All-MVC, led the team in wins posting a 23-11 record, all in the first flight. His season included a triumphant victory over No. 11 Christian Sigsgaard of Texas.
The Returners
Along with co-captain Inoue, the Shockers return six from the 2016-17 squad. WSU will look to fill the losses of seniors
Vitor Mendes and
Jocelyn Devilliers. Among the returners are juniors
Andrea Caligiana,
Eddie Stoica (co-captain),
Marius Frosa and
Austin Williams.
Miroslav Herzan , the lone senior and co-captain, returns along with sophomore
Murkel Dellien. Frosa and Dellien enter the spring season ranked No. 27 in doubles.
Fresh Face on the Roster
The Shockers welcome one true freshman to their roster this spring as
Andrea Trapani prepares for his first dual match … Trapani owned a 13.22 Universal Tennis Ranking upon arriving in Wichita, and is a native of Palermo, Italy. Trapani ranked as high as #232 in ITF Junior World Rankings, combing for over 30 victories in singles and doubles.
Highlights from 2017 Fall Season
• Junior
Marius Frosa had a breakout fall season in both singles and doubles. Frosa went 8-4 in singles, including a thrilling run at the ITA All-Americans, where he reached the main draw for just the second time since 1994 for WSU. He knocked off No. 83 Felix Corwin along the way, in a stunning three-set match.
• The tandem of Frosa and Dellien, who rank No. 27, were the first Shocker duo since 2011 (David Cavalcanti and Matheus Periera) to reach the main draw of ITA All-Americans, and the first in more than 25 years to be selected as an at-large in the main draw. The duo knocked off Stanford before falling to Ingildsen/Perez of Florida who ranked No. 4 in ITA.
• Senior
Miroslav Herzan and
Andrea Caligiana advanced to the semifinals of the ITA Central Regionals in doubles action, and compiled a 5-2 record in fall action.
• Inoue competed in three Futures events, with a 10-4 overall record. He reached the main draw in two of the three events.
UP NEXT:
The Shockers head to Cambridge, Mass., for the Harvard Invite Jan. 27-28. The field includes Auburn, Utah and host Harvard.
