CARY, N.C. — After a near three-week layoff, the Charlotte men’s tennis team returns to the courts at Cary, N.C. for the ITA Carolina Regionals this weekend (Oct. 20-Oct. 24).
All eight Niners will be available and in action for the fourth event of the Charlotte fall season. 137 total players are registered for the single-elimination ITA Carolina Regionals.
The regional tournament is hosted by the Cary Tennis Park and Duke University and Charlotte’s head coach Kyle Bailey is the chair. Fans can follow this weekend’s action and see tournament results and draws at the tournament central page, HERE.
THE FORMAT
Play begins Friday with two singles. Saturday will be two doubles and one singles.
Play will continue through Tuesday, with finalists in both draws earning bids to the 2023 ITA Fall National Championships in San Diego, California Nov. 1-5. The fall championships feature 64 of the nation’s top collegiate singles players (32 men and 32 women) and 64 doubles teams (32 men’s team and 32 women’s teams).
LAST TIME OUT
Coy Simon and Spencer Gray were the only two Niners that made the trip to Athens, Ga. for the Southern Intercollegiate Championships three weeks ago. Simon and Gray gained valuable experience against some Power Five foes. Simon went 3-1 in singles competition at that event, including a victory over Clemson. In doubles action, Simon and Gray went 1-2 with the win coming against Vanderbilt.
CHARLOTTE FALL INVITATIONAL
With all eight members of Charlotte participating in the Charlotte Fall Invitational, the Niners went a combined 22-10 across doubles and singles action over the three days, including winning 8 of 10 doubles matches.
Brett Gloria, Vasco Prata, and Lance Cochran were each perfect over the weekend. Gloria won all three of his matches in singles play and then won both of his doubles matches with Peter Glenn as his partner. Prata went a perfect 3-0 in singles and 3-0 in doubles. It did not matter who his partner was as he won with Spencer Gray, Matias Iturbe, and Coy Simon. Cochran went 4-0 with a pair of wins each in singles and doubles action.
2023 FALL SEASON DEBUT
Iturbe shined in at the Elon Invitational, going 3-1 in the singles draws and then winning all three of his double matchups with Ivan Dreycopp at his partner. Dreycopp went 2-2 in the singles draws. Prata went 2-1 in singles draws and 1-1 in doubles with Cochran as his partner. Gloria turned in an impressive 3-0 performance in singles action with his final match rained out.
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. If Prata returns to form after being one of two Niners to advance out of ITA Carolina Regionals last year, the Niners will be an even more formidable foe.
ALL-CONFERENCE WATCH
Simon will be looking to build upon his impressive 2022-23 season that earned him second-team all-conference honors after leading the Niners with the best overall record while playing primarily at both No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles. He was 19-17 overall with a 6-8 mark at No. 1 singles. As a sophomore in 2021-22, Simon was one half of a CLT duo that qualified for the doubles main draw at the ITA Fall National Championships, becoming the first-ever pair to do so in program history. Simon is not the only Niner that will be aiming for conference honors as Dreycopp, Iturbe, and Prata each have stellar resumes that could land them on the honors list if they take another leap forward this season.
Dreycopp’s 19 overall wins last year was tied with Simon for most on the team but Dreycopp’s 11 wins in dual matches actually led Charlotte. He had five victories each in No. 3 and No. 4 singles. Iturbe was 9-9 in dual matches, including six wins at No. 4 singles.
GRAY IN GREEN & WHITE
Charlotte’s 2023-24 recruiting class features one incoming player– graduate student Spencer Gray. Gray is a transfer from Auburn University and he compiled a 47-30 overall record in singles action and an 11-12 overall mark in doubles play with the Tigers. In 2022-23, his final season at Auburn, Gray finished 11-6 in singles and 6-3 in doubles. The Boca Raton, Fla. native brings pedigree and experience to this Charlotte roster.
In April, after announcing Gray’s arrival to the Queen City, Coach Bailey had this to say: “Spencer has been a vital part of the rise of the program at Auburn and we are very lucky to have him join us next year at Charlotte. He is a determined and hard-working individual and is a natural born competitor. I know that he will do great things here at Charlotte both on and off the court.”
Gray’s great contributions on the court might still be overshadowed by his otherworldly efforts off the court. He is a two-time SEC Community Service team honoree, a three-time member of the Spring SEC Academic Honor Roll, and a four-time ITA Scholar-Athlete.
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
The Niners conclude their 2023 fall slate at the Wake Forest Invitational on November 3-November 5 in Winston-Salem, N.C.