Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest Ranked No. 22 in ITA Preseason Rankings
1/4/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Jan. 4, 2011
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Wake Forest men's tennis team was ranked No. 22 nationally, and four Demon Deacons received national singles rankings, in the initial 2011 Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings, which were released Tuesday. It is the sixth consecutive year that the Demon Deacons have started the dual match season ranked in the top 30.
Senior Jonathan Wolff (No. 45), sophomore Tripper Carleton (No. 87), sophomore Danny Kreyman (No. 100) and senior Iain Atkinson (No. 109) represent the Demon Deacons in the singles rankings, giving Wake Forest a school-record tying four ranked singles players for the second year in a row.
The Deacs are in the midst of the best run in program history and will enter the 2011 dual match season with high expectations, having reached the semifinals of the ACC Tournament in each of the past four seasons. In 2010, Wake Forest tied for third in the ACC in the regular season and received its 10th consecutive NCAA Tournament bid, falling to top-seeded Virginia in the second round.
Wolff, who was ranked No. 81 in the fall, vaulted into the top 50 by going 12-4 in fall tournament play with five wins over ranked players, including an impressive victory over No. 37 Casey Watt (Notre Dame). The Sarasota, Fla. native played his way through qualifying to earn a spot in main draw of the prestigious ITA All-American Championship and also reached the Round of 16 of the ITA Carolina Regional.
Carleton will look to build on a successful rookie season in 2010 where he took home All-ACC honors and became the first-ever Wake Forest freshman to earn a bid to the NCAA Singles Championship. The sophomore went 9-5 in fall action, highlighted by a quarterfinal appearance in the ITA Carolina Regional.
Kreyman is ranked nationally for the first time in his career after turning in one of the most impressive falls of any player on the Wake Forest roster. The native of Long Beach, N.Y. posted an 11-5 record, dropping only two matches to players not ranked in the top 30. While the ranking may be new for Kreyman, singles success is not, as he tied for second on the team with 22 singles victories in 2009-10.
Atkinson appears in the preseason singles rankings for the second consecutive season, having started the year ranked No. 40 in January of 2010. Last year, the Washington, England native earned doubles All-America honors after reaching the quarterfinals of the NCAA Doubles Championship with partner Steven Forman ('10). Atkinson went 9-4 this fall, with his best result coming when he reached the quarterfinals of the ITA Carolina Regional.
One of the premier conferences in college tennis, the ACC leads all conferences with six teams in the top 25 of the initial rankings, including top-ranked Virginia.
Wake Forest will open up the 2011 dual match season when it travels to Lexington, Ky. to face No. 29 Wisconsin on Jan. 29 at 10 a.m. The winner of that match will take on the winner of the match between Kentucky and Boise State for a spot in the 2011 ITA National Team Indoor Championship. The Demon Deacons' first home match will come against VCU on Feb. 13 at 12 p.m.
Players Mentioned
