Wake Forest Athletics
Demon Deacons to Begin NCAA Tournament Against Columbia Saturday
5/13/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
May 13, 2010
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Wake Forest men's tennis team will get underway with NCAA Tournament action this Saturday as they face Columbia in the first round. The tournament will be played in Charlottesville, Va. at UVA's Sheridan Snyder Tennis Center.
Wake Forest and Columbia will square off at 10 a.m., with Virginia and Navy following at 1 p.m. The winners from the two matches will compete against one another on Sunday at 1 p.m. for the right to advance to Athens, Ga. for the Final Rounds of the NCAA Championships.
Wake Forest is currently ranked No. 22 in the nation with a record of 15-9, while Columbia enters Saturday's match with a No. 45 ranking and an overall record of 16-4.
The Demon Deacons will be led by 2010 All-ACC performers senior Steven Forman and freshman Tripper Carleton. Currently ranked No. 26 in the nation, Forman recorded one of the most successful seasons of his career with a 24-10 overall record. He notched a number of victories against ranked opponents such as Southern Cal's No. 9 Robert Farah, Virginia's No. 11 Michael Shabaz, and North Carolina's No. 43 Clay Donato.
Forman was recently named the ITA Regional Senior Player of the Year for his efforts on the court. The award is given annually to the top senior in North Carolina and South Carolina. He has also claimed victories in nine out of his last eleven singles matches.
Carleton has recorded a phenomenal freshman season thus far, with a record of 13-10 and a national ranking as high as No. 20. He has posted wins over multiple ranked opponents, including No. 54 Vahid Mirzadeh (Florida State) and No. 44 Jose Hernandez (North Carolina). Carleton also became the first freshman in Wake Forest history to receive a bid to the NCAA Singles Championships, and he currently owns a No. 48 national ranking.
The other Demon Deacons that will round out the singles line-up are juniors Iain Atkinson and Jonathan Wolff, and freshmen Danny Kreyman and Zach Leslie.
Atkinson is currently ranked No. 98 in the country with an overall record of 21-15, while Wolff ranks No. 118 with a 19-11 mark on the season.
The doubles tandem of Forman and Atkinson, ranked No. 21 nationally, will look to continue their successful season on Saturday. The duo owns an overall record of 22-9, with victories in 7 of their last 10 matches. In the fall, they advanced to the finals of the ITA Carolina Regional. They have also been selected to participate in NCAA Doubles Championships that will be held at the end of May in Athens, Ga.
Columbia finished 6-1 in Ivy League play, and by doing so claimed their second straight Ivy League Championship. The Lions are led by seniors Jonathan Wong and Mihai Nichifor, who earned All-Ivy League honors in both singles and doubles. Playing in the No. 2 singles spot, Nichifor posted a 7-0 record in conference play on the season.
Wake Forest and Columbia share no common opponents this season, and the two teams have never faced one another in dual match play.
Live stats for Saturday's match will be available on www.WakeForestSports.com.
Players Mentioned
