Wake Forest Athletics
No. 21 Deacons Travel to Michigan for Weekend Matches
2/4/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Feb. 4, 2011
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The 21st-ranked Wake Forest men's tennis team will hit the road for the second straight week with a trip north to face No. 23 Michigan on Feb. 5 and Michigan State on Feb. 6.
The Deacons' record stands at 1-1 after they split a pair of matches at the ITA Kick-Off Weekend in Lexington, Ky. Wake shutout No. 30 Wisconsin 3-0 in the opening round, before falling 4-0 to No. 12 Kentucky the following day.
Against the Badgers, the Deacs took a hard-fought doubles point with wins from the teams of Danny Kreyman/Jonathan Wolff and David Hopkins/Zach Leslie. In singles, Kreyman, Iain Atkinson and Hopkins picked up straight-set victories at positions 2, 3, and 4 to clinch the match for Wake Forest.
Wake has four singles players in the national rankings - No. 45 Wolff, No. 87 Tripper Carleton, No, 100 Kreyman and No. 109 Atkinson.
This weekend, Wake Forest will make its second trip to the Great Lakes State in three years. The Deacons faced the Wolverines in Ann Arbor in 2009, defeating them 6-1. Wake holds a 3-2 advantage in the all-time series, including a 5-2 win last year in Winston-Salem.
The Wolverines enter the weekend with an even 2-2 record, having posted wins over Western Michigan and No. 25 Virginia Tech, with losses to No. 5 Texas and No. 14 Duke. Sophomore Evan King has occupied the top spot in the UM singles lineup, with No. 35 Jason Jung playing No. 2. Both players have 3-1 dual match singles records this season. Jung and King have teamed up to form the 28th-ranked doubles team in the country, going 2-2 so far at the top doubles position.
Wake has faced Michigan State on three previous occasions, with the last meeting coming in 2004. The Deacons have won two of the three matches.
The Spartans have started the season 6-0, but the Demon Deacons will be the first ranked team that they will face this year. Denis Bogatov has played the top singles position for MSU, with the team of Bogatov and Drew Lied playing No. 1 doubles.
Following this weekend's matches, Wake Forest will return to Winston-Salem for its first home match of the season, against VCU on Feb. 13 at noon.
For up-to-the minute Wake Forest tennis news, follow the Deacs on Twitter @WakeTennis or twitter.com/WakeTennis
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