 "Photo: Michelle Connolly")
After 12 days of inactivity and a difficult stretch ahead, The Texas men's tennis team is set to go back in action today at 5:30 p.m. to take on No. 9 USC at the Penick-Allison Tennis Center in Austin.
The Longhorns, currently ranked No. 4 in the nation after the release of the March 18 ITA team rankings, hold a 13-2 overall record for the season. Their most recent win came against Florida State on March 8.
When the Longhorns and Trojans met on Feb. 17, Texas defeated USC 4-1 in the consolation round of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in Seattle. The Trojans hold a 14-4 advantage in their all-time series against the Longhorns.
Texas heads into today's match with four players in the ITA Top 100 singles rankings - No. 25 Kellen Damico, No. 38 Ed Corrie, No. 42 Dimitar Kutrovsky and No. 86 Luis Diaz Barriga - and also boasts three Top 50 doubles pairs: No. 7 Diaz Barriga/Damico, No. 10 Damico/Corrie and No. 35 Diaz Barriga/Reyes Varela.
But the Trojans are in no short supply of talent on their roster, showcasing three of the nation's top-ranked singles players in No. 7 Robert Farah, No. 46 Kaes Van't Hof and No. 54 Gary Sacks and the second-best doubles pair in the country in Farah/Van't Hof.
Kutrovsky was recently named Big 12 Men's Tennis Player of the Week after an impressive pair of singles victories against Old Dominion and Florida State. The selection was the first weekly award of Kutrovsky's collegiate career.
The award should come as no surprise to those familiar with Kutrovsky's performance as of late. After defeating Old Dominion's Aleksandr Selenev 6-2, 6-2, on March 5 in Texas' 6-1 win over the Monarchs, the sophomore went up against Florida State's 24th-ranked Jean-Yves Aubone as a heavy underdog yet pulled through and led Texas to a 6-1 win over the Seminoles on March 8.
Kutrovsky follows freshman Damico as the second consecutive Longhorn to receive Big 12 Player of the Week honors.
Texas began the 2008 season ranked No. 7, the highest pre-season ranking the team has ever received under the direction of eight-year head coach Michael Center. Center was named 2007 USPTA National College Coach of the Year and recently earned his 300th career win against Alabama.
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