CHARLOTTE, N.C. — No. 54-ranked Charlotte Men’s Tennis (9-2) faces its toughest home test of the young season so far at Halton-Wagner Tennis Complex on Sunday, February 25 with Liberty coming to town. The Niners and Flames begin play at 12 p.m. noon.
In the initial ITA Rankings on February 20, Charlotte debuted at No. 49 and Liberty at No. 74.
Attendance is free today and fans attending Sunday’s match can enter for a chance to win official Charlotte gear. Live statistics and live video will also be available for the match.
LAST TIME OUT
The Niners won 4-1 against Coastal Carolina on Saturday, February 24. Charlotte dominated the Chanticleers in singles play, winning on courts one, three, five, and six, after dropping the doubles point.
On court one, Spencer Gray grabbed a very quick 6-2, 6-4 win to tie the match at 1-1. Vasco Prata took the lead for the Niners with a three-set win on court five. After dropping the first set 6-2, he bounced back with 6-1 and 6-4 victories in the second and third sets.
Alex Richards set up match point on court six, winning in straight sets, 7-6, 6-2. Ivan Dreycopp delivered the Niners’ ninth win and ended the match with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 victory on court three.
SCOUTING THE FLAMES
Liberty enters Sunday having won three straight matches, including a 6-1 victory on Friday over No. 65 Dartmouth. In their win streak, the Flames have defeated Penn State and Georgia State.
The Flames are led by Rafael Marques Da Silva and his 5-2 mark at the No. 1 singles slot. Marques Da Silva was a first-team all-conference selection last season and peaked at No. 99 in the rankings. Rodrigo Santiago Arraez is still undefeated in singles competition in his freshman season with a 7-0 record.
In doubles, the combination of Luis Felipe Miguel and Matija Samardzic is a team-best 8-1. Although five of their eight wins have come at the No. 3 spot, the duo recently picked up their first win at the No. 1 slot against ranked Dartmouth on Friday.
Liberty is the reigning 2023 NIT Champions after earning three victories in Atlanta, Ga. to claim the title in the inaugural UTR NIT Championship. They finished 2022-23 with a 17-10 record under Head Coach Derek Schwandt, who is in his seventh year at the helm of the Flames.
SERIES HISTORY
All-time, Charlotte is 3-4 against Liberty. The two schools have met four times in the past three seasons, with the Flames taking three of those matchups. Last season, Liberty won 4-3 at home on March 4, 2023. Coy Simon and Ivan Dreycopp recorded hard-fought three-set victories on court one and four, respectively.
March 4, 2022, was the last time that the Niners (ranked No. 49) hosted the Flames (ranked No. 72) and Charlotte won that matchup 4-3. Simon had a doubles victory at No. 1 to give Charlotte a 1-0 lead and then his win at No. 4 singles set up match point for the Niners.
ON A RUN
After missing most of the spring season last season, it appears that Vasco Prata has returned even better in 2024. The redshirt sophomore has won four straight matches in singles play. His six overall victories in singles competition is third-most on the team.
Against Coastal Carolina, Simon was about 15 minutes away from improving to 9-2 in singles competition and recording his fourth straight victory. He was leading the third set, 4-1, on court four before the match was abandoned.
MOVING UP
Gray, a graduate student and Boca Raton, Fla. native, returned to his hometown (Boca Raton, Fla) and recorded his first-ever collegiate win at No. 1 singles versus Florida Atlantic. His win at No. 2 doubles was also a first.
After recording wins at No. 3, 4, and 5 this season, Schlossmann earned his first win at No. 2 singles for Charlotte against Florida Atlantic.
HOME COOKING
Charlotte is 2-0 at Halton-Wagner Tennis Complex and 3-0 at their second home of the indoor courts of LifeTime Fitness. At the indoor courts, Charlotte secured easy wins over Queens, The Citadel, and UNC Asheville, while only dropping four points combined to the three opponents. Schlossmann and Simon both won each of their singles matches in the three-game spell.
THE ROAD TRIP
Charlotte played six straight road matches between January 28 and February 11. The road trip served as a great test for the Niners as they played three fellow American Athletic Conference schools and earned victories over two (Florida Atlantic & UAB).
Overall, Charlotte went 4-2 over the road trip that began in Blacksburg, Va., and traveled through Florida and Atlanta, Ga. before meeting its conclusion in Huntsville, Ala.
CHARLOTTE PREPARED FOR THE SPRING
The 23-match spring schedule is highlighted by the five 2023 NCAA Tournament participants, six fellow American Athletic Conference programs, and eight teams ranked in the top 75 of last season’s year-end ITA rankings. After opening the slate with three matches in Charlotte, the Niners will play six straight road matches from January 27 to February 11.
The next home stretch is from Feb. 17 to Feb. 25 and it features South Carolina State, a 2023 NCAA Tournament participant, and Liberty, the reigning 2023 NIT Champions.
Of Charlotte’s final six matches, four were either ranked in the ITA Top 75 or made the NCAA Tournament in 2023. Fortunately, the Niners will get three of those four stout opponents at home. Charlotte hosts Presbyterian on March 29. The Blue Hose went 16-10 last season and qualified for the 2023 NCAA Tournament by virtue of winning the 2023 Big South Championship. Two days later, the Niners will host AAC foe Rice.
NINERS INCREASE FIREPOWER
After returning seven players from last year and adding Spencer Gray from Auburn in the fall, the Niners have brought even more talent to the Queen City. Graduate transfer Alex Richards arrives from Wichita State as a touted doubles player and junior Frederic Schlossmann from Austin Peay.
Richards played four seasons with the Shockers and recorded an overall record of 42-31 in doubles competition, including 29 wins at the No. 1 slot. He ranked as high as No. 49 in the ITA national double rankings. Richards advanced to the doubles quarterfinals of the ITA Central Region Championships twice in the fall of 2021 and 2022.
Schlossmann was a two-time all-conference selection with the Governors. For his sophomore season in 2021-22, Schlossmann exclusively occupied the No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles spots and was named a first-team All-Ohio Valley selection after leading Austin Peay with eight doubles victories and six singles wins in the spring.
FALL REWIND
The Niners played in five events in the 2023-24 fall season, compiling a 48-34 mark in singles competition and a 22-11 record in doubles play. In the final tournament of the fall, the Wake Forest Invitational, Ivan Dreycopp defeated a nationally ranked player, a preseason top-75 player from Princeton. In the same event, Matias Iturbe went 4-0 to claim the B1 singles flight title.
Brett Gloria finds himself ranked among the top-125 players after a perfect 6-0 fall. He is ranked 117th in the most recent (Nov. 15) ITA Singles’ Ranking. Iturbe finished the fall with a team-high 11 singles victories (11-3 record) and a team-high nine doubles wins (9-3). Ivan Dreycopp was 8-3 in doubles play in the fall.
LAST SEASON’S YOUTH, THIS SEASON’S STRENGTH
In 2022-23, this Niners squad featured three freshmen, two sophomores, and a senior embarking on a 25-match Spring schedule that included six Power Five foes and 10 ranked opponents. Four Niners made their collegiate dual match debuts last season. Now entering this season, seven players return from last year’s 9-14 squad that experienced the program’s first-ever appearance at ITA Kickoff Weekend and defeated NCAA Tournament hopeful, Texas Tech, 4-3. In the match against the Red Raiders, then-sophomores Simon and Prata picked up victories at No. 1 and No. 2 singles, while then-freshmen Iturbe and Dreycopp recorded wins at No. 4 and No. 5 singles, respectively. All four of those players are returning.
The 2023-24 version of the 49ers are also bolstered by a healthy Prata, who missed the majority of the 2023 spring season due to a hand injury. With Prata (17-5 in dual match play as a freshman) injured, Charlotte was left without its No. 2 singles player and erased its best doubles pair last season.
A NEW CONFERENCE, A NEW ERA
Charlotte’s Men’s Tennis is now a member of the American Athletic Conference and the 2023-24 season will be the Niners’ first season in the AAC after 10 seasons in Conference USA. The program was previously apart of C-USA from 1995 to 2005 before being a member of the Atlantic-10 from 2006 to 2013.
The new goal for the Green & White will be to bring an AAC Championship back to the Queen City. With Bailey at the helm, Charlotte has made three Conference USA Tournament appearances, including the first appearance in the Conference USA title match in program history. The Niners’ lone conference tournament title came when they won three games in three days at the 2007 Atlantic 10 Tournament, which advanced Charlotte to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in history.
UP NEXT
A road trip to Louisiana awaits the Niners next week. Charlotte will play the Ragin’ Cajuns of Louisiana on Friday, March 1 in Lafayette and then battle fellow AAC foe Tulane on Sunday, March 3 in New Orleans.
