Upcoming Event: Men's Tennis versus Utah Invitational on October 3, 2025
Men's Tennis
vs Utah Invitational
Saturday, January 25
Columbus, OH
11:00 AM
University of Utah
vs
Tulsa (ITA Kickoff)
Photo by: Steve Kinslow
Men's Tennis Set to Compete at ITA Kick-Off Weekend
1/22/2020 12:05 PM | Men's Tennis
Utah to face Tulsa in opening round.
FIRST SERVE
Utah men's tennis will head to the ITA Kick-Off Weekend to compete at the Columbus, Ohio site this Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 25-26. The tournament will be held at Ohio State's Varsity Tennis Center where Utah will join No. 6 Ohio State, Tulsa, and Purdue for the event. Utah (2-0) opens the two-day event against Tulsa (4-0) on Saturday at 11 a.m. MT. Live scoring and video for the ITA Kick-Off Weekend is available here.Â
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TOURNAMENT TALK
The tournament will start on Saturday when site-host Ohio State takes on Purdue at 8 a.m. MT. Utah will then begin the matchup against Tulsa at 11 a.m. MT. The non-advancing teams from the opening day of play will go head-to-head on Sunday at 8 a.m. MT, while the winners of Saturday's matches will compete in the championship round at 11 a.m. MT. The site winner will advance to the ITA National Team Indoors.
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LOOKING INSIDE THE LINEUP
Utah tennis fans saw new faces enter the lineup in both singles and doubles play, as well as returners moving positions in the opening two matches of the season. After playing the majority of his sophomore season at the No. 4 singles, junior Russell Benkaim competed at the No. 1 and No. 2 to open the season. Benkaim also jumped into the top doubles spot with partner Randy Cory.Â
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Freshmen Franco Capalbo and Wally Thayne made their way into the Ute lineups for the season openers with Capalbo playing at the No. 1 and No. 2, while Thayne settled into the No. 5 position for Utah. The freshmen also teamed up to play as Utah's No. 2 doubles team.Â
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Senior Slava Shainyan and sophomore Mathias Gavelin stayed between the No. 3/4 spots, while senior Azat Hankuliyev and junior Randy Cory each played a match at the No. 6 singles. Picking up two wins as the No. 3 doubles team, Shainyan and Hankuliyev paired together to complete the doubles lineup in the first two matches.Â
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SCOUTING TULSA
The Tulsa men's tennis team has started the 2020 year with a 4-0 record, winning a pair of doubleheaders against Mercer and Bryant. Tulsa is coming off a 14-12 overall record in 2018-19. Tulsa is led by sophomore Kody Pearson, who is ranked as the No. 98 singles player in the nation, and was most recently named the AAC Men's Tennis Player of the Week on Jan. 21.Â
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SCOUTING OHIO STATE/PURDUE
Ohio State men's tennis comes into the weekend ranked No. 6 in the nation. The Buckeyes are coming off of a 32-3 overall record in 2018-19, going 11-0 in Big 10 conference play and winning the Big 10 Championship Tournament for the fourth year in a row. Last year, No. 1-seeded Ohio State advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championships before being upset by North Carolina, 2-4. Key players for the Buckeyes include No. 16-ranked Cannon Kingsly, No. 24-ranked John McNally, No. 28-ranked Kyle Seelig, and No. 40-ranked James Trotter. Ohio State also has the second-ranked doubles team in the nation of Robert Cash and John McNally.
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The Purdue men's tennis team has carded a record of 1-2 to start the 2020 year with their most recent match coming in a loss to Notre Dame, 1-4. Purdue went 10-14 overall in 2018-19 and was 7-2 overall in Big 10 play. The Boilermakers are led by senior Athell Bennett, who comes into this weekend ranked No. 45 in the nation in singles. Against Notre Dame, Bennett defeated fifth-ranked Richard Ciamarra, with a score of 7-6, 6-4.Â
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LAST TIME OUT
Utah men's tennis is coming off two victories against Idaho and Weber State last weekend to open the season. The Utes started with a 7-0 sweep against Idaho, followed by a 5-2 win against Weber State.Â
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The duo of Azat Hankuliyev and Slava Shainyan recorded two doubles wins last Saturday, while Capalbo/Thayne and Cory/Benkaim each picked up a win together on the doubles court. In singles play against Idaho, all courts went on to win their matches to complete the clean sweep. Shainyan, Mathias Gavelin, and Thayne all recorded their second singles wins on the day on their respective courts, while Randy Cory also picked up a win for Utah to claim the 5-2 win against the Wildcats.
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ABOUT THE ITA KICKOFF WEEKEND
This will be the 12th annual Intercollegiate Tennis Association Kick-Off, with 60 teams per gender traveling to 15 host sites across the country to participate. Each host institution will welcome three other teams for a single elimination event, with the winners of each site advancing to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships from Feb. 7-10.Â
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The ITA Kick-Off Weekend is unique in college athletics in that each regional is determined via the Kickoff Weekend Draft, where each team selects which regional they wish to participate in. Selections are made in order of the final 2018-2019 ITA Collegiate Tennis Rankings. Ohio State ranked No. 3Â in the final poll, Utah finished No. 42, Tulsa came in at No. 54, while Purdue was No. 79 to round out the site selection.
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UP NEXT
The Utah men's tennis team will be back in action next week when they host three home matches at the Eccles Tennis Center in Salt Lake City. The first match will come on Friday, Jan. 31, as the Utes will face off against East Tennessee State at 12 p.m. MT. Utah will then finish the weekend with two matches on Saturday, Feb. 1. The first match is against Nevada at 12 p.m. MT, followed by a dual with Montana at 5 p.m. MT.
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Utah men's tennis will head to the ITA Kick-Off Weekend to compete at the Columbus, Ohio site this Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 25-26. The tournament will be held at Ohio State's Varsity Tennis Center where Utah will join No. 6 Ohio State, Tulsa, and Purdue for the event. Utah (2-0) opens the two-day event against Tulsa (4-0) on Saturday at 11 a.m. MT. Live scoring and video for the ITA Kick-Off Weekend is available here.Â
Â
TOURNAMENT TALK
The tournament will start on Saturday when site-host Ohio State takes on Purdue at 8 a.m. MT. Utah will then begin the matchup against Tulsa at 11 a.m. MT. The non-advancing teams from the opening day of play will go head-to-head on Sunday at 8 a.m. MT, while the winners of Saturday's matches will compete in the championship round at 11 a.m. MT. The site winner will advance to the ITA National Team Indoors.
Â
LOOKING INSIDE THE LINEUP
Utah tennis fans saw new faces enter the lineup in both singles and doubles play, as well as returners moving positions in the opening two matches of the season. After playing the majority of his sophomore season at the No. 4 singles, junior Russell Benkaim competed at the No. 1 and No. 2 to open the season. Benkaim also jumped into the top doubles spot with partner Randy Cory.Â
Â
Freshmen Franco Capalbo and Wally Thayne made their way into the Ute lineups for the season openers with Capalbo playing at the No. 1 and No. 2, while Thayne settled into the No. 5 position for Utah. The freshmen also teamed up to play as Utah's No. 2 doubles team.Â
Â
Senior Slava Shainyan and sophomore Mathias Gavelin stayed between the No. 3/4 spots, while senior Azat Hankuliyev and junior Randy Cory each played a match at the No. 6 singles. Picking up two wins as the No. 3 doubles team, Shainyan and Hankuliyev paired together to complete the doubles lineup in the first two matches.Â
Â
SCOUTING TULSA
The Tulsa men's tennis team has started the 2020 year with a 4-0 record, winning a pair of doubleheaders against Mercer and Bryant. Tulsa is coming off a 14-12 overall record in 2018-19. Tulsa is led by sophomore Kody Pearson, who is ranked as the No. 98 singles player in the nation, and was most recently named the AAC Men's Tennis Player of the Week on Jan. 21.Â
Â
SCOUTING OHIO STATE/PURDUE
Ohio State men's tennis comes into the weekend ranked No. 6 in the nation. The Buckeyes are coming off of a 32-3 overall record in 2018-19, going 11-0 in Big 10 conference play and winning the Big 10 Championship Tournament for the fourth year in a row. Last year, No. 1-seeded Ohio State advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championships before being upset by North Carolina, 2-4. Key players for the Buckeyes include No. 16-ranked Cannon Kingsly, No. 24-ranked John McNally, No. 28-ranked Kyle Seelig, and No. 40-ranked James Trotter. Ohio State also has the second-ranked doubles team in the nation of Robert Cash and John McNally.
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The Purdue men's tennis team has carded a record of 1-2 to start the 2020 year with their most recent match coming in a loss to Notre Dame, 1-4. Purdue went 10-14 overall in 2018-19 and was 7-2 overall in Big 10 play. The Boilermakers are led by senior Athell Bennett, who comes into this weekend ranked No. 45 in the nation in singles. Against Notre Dame, Bennett defeated fifth-ranked Richard Ciamarra, with a score of 7-6, 6-4.Â
Â
LAST TIME OUT
Utah men's tennis is coming off two victories against Idaho and Weber State last weekend to open the season. The Utes started with a 7-0 sweep against Idaho, followed by a 5-2 win against Weber State.Â
Â
The duo of Azat Hankuliyev and Slava Shainyan recorded two doubles wins last Saturday, while Capalbo/Thayne and Cory/Benkaim each picked up a win together on the doubles court. In singles play against Idaho, all courts went on to win their matches to complete the clean sweep. Shainyan, Mathias Gavelin, and Thayne all recorded their second singles wins on the day on their respective courts, while Randy Cory also picked up a win for Utah to claim the 5-2 win against the Wildcats.
Â
ABOUT THE ITA KICKOFF WEEKEND
This will be the 12th annual Intercollegiate Tennis Association Kick-Off, with 60 teams per gender traveling to 15 host sites across the country to participate. Each host institution will welcome three other teams for a single elimination event, with the winners of each site advancing to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships from Feb. 7-10.Â
Â
The ITA Kick-Off Weekend is unique in college athletics in that each regional is determined via the Kickoff Weekend Draft, where each team selects which regional they wish to participate in. Selections are made in order of the final 2018-2019 ITA Collegiate Tennis Rankings. Ohio State ranked No. 3Â in the final poll, Utah finished No. 42, Tulsa came in at No. 54, while Purdue was No. 79 to round out the site selection.
Â
UP NEXT
The Utah men's tennis team will be back in action next week when they host three home matches at the Eccles Tennis Center in Salt Lake City. The first match will come on Friday, Jan. 31, as the Utes will face off against East Tennessee State at 12 p.m. MT. Utah will then finish the weekend with two matches on Saturday, Feb. 1. The first match is against Nevada at 12 p.m. MT, followed by a dual with Montana at 5 p.m. MT.
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