UA Netters Set to Begin Play at ITA Regional

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Nine Razorback tennis players will start main-draw competition Thursday at the Wilson/ITA Central Region Championships at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Okla. Junior Blake Strode is seeded second in the singles competition and in doubles action, he and partner Colin Mascall are the top-seeded team.

Strode will begin the day with an opening-round match against Konrad Kamizelich from Drake. In the doubles’ draw, Strode and Mascall will open against Southern Illinois’ Breno Salvany and Hugo Vidal.

Mascall will take on Edson Abrao from Arkansas-Little Rock in a first-round singles match. Mascall and Dmitry Lebedev are slotted in the 9-16 seeds.

Lebedev and Tyler Tarnasky were both awarded spots into the main singles draw. Lebedev will play Scott McCormick from Wichita State, while Tarnasky will open the tournament against Michael Hobson from Illinois State.

Five Razorbacks—Branden Joost, Taylor King, Chris Nott, Connor Smith and Bradwin Williams—earned spots into the draw by playing through the qualifying rounds Wednesday.

In addition to Strode and Mascall, Arkansas will have three other teams in the doubles event. Lebedev will partner with Nott to take on the team of Hendrik Stahmer and Francois Van Impe. King and Tarnasky will face Saint Louis’ Felipe Acosto and Paul Feder. Joost and Williams play Halvar Dil and Ricardo Lau from Drake.

Along with the Razorbacks, teams competing at the Central Regional include Arkansas-Little Rock, Drake, Illinois St., Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oklahoma St., Oral Roberts, Saint Louis, Southern Illinois, Tulsa and Wichita St.

Thursday’s play will include the first two rounds of singles action and the first round of the doubles competition. Play is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. CT with the doubles matches starting after the day’s singles action is complete. Log on to www.hogwired.com for complete results of the Razorbacks’ progress in Tulsa.

UA First-Round Matches:

Singles

Dmitry Lebedev vs. Scott McCormick (Wichita St.) – 9 a.m.

Chris Nott vs. Jamie Holmes (Nebraska) – 9 a.m.

Connor Smith vs. Ross Cunningham (Tulsa) – 9 a.m.

Branden Joost vs. Ricardo Lau (Drake) – 10:30 a.m.

Taylor King vs. Dmytro Petrov (Oklahoma St.) – 10:30 a.m.

Colin Mascall vs. Edson Abrao (UALR) – 10:30 a.m.

Tyler Tarnasky vs. Michael Hobson (Illinois St.) – 10:30 a.m.

Bradwin Williams vs. Rain Roigas (UALR) – 10:30 a.m.

Blake Strode vs. Konrad Kamizelich (Drake) – 12 p.m.

Doubles

Mascall/Strode vs. Breno Salvany/Hugo Vidal (Southern Illinois)

King/Tarnasky vs. Felipe Acosto/Paul Feder (Saint Louis)

Lebedev/Nott vs. Hendrik Stahmer/Francois Van Impe (Nebraska)

Joost/Williams vs. Halvar Dil/Ricardo Lau (Drake)