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    Mikelis Libietis     
     
      Mikelis Libietis
Class:
Freshman

Hometown:
Priekuli, Latvia

High School:
Murijanu Sprota Gimnazija

Height / Weight:
6-2 / 199

Career Singles Record: 20-13
Highest Singles Ranking: No. 28 (4/30/2012)
Career Doubles Record: 26-11
Highest Doubles Ranking: No. 7 with Hunter Reese (3/13/2012)

Feature Content
April 2012: Serve & Volley: Mikelis Libietis
February 2012: Around the Ping-Pong Table (VIDEO)
January 2012: Family Sports Leads Libietis to Tennessee

Awards
2012 All-SEC (First Team)
2012 SEC All-Freshman Team
2012 SEC Freshman of the Week (3 times: 2/1; 2/29; 3/7)
2012 ITA Ohio Valley Region Rookie of the Year

Singles Title
2011 Tennessee Fall Invitational (Flight 1)

Doubles Titles
2011 USTA/ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championships (with Hunter Reese)
2011 Tennessee Fall Invitational (Flight 1) (with Jarryd Chaplin)

2011-12 (Freshman)
Singles Record: 20-13 (4-7 SEC)
Doubles Record: 26-11 (7-4 SEC)
Notes: Played No. 1 singles and doubles in every match for the Vols this year, only freshman in the conference tasked with playing at the top of both lineups ... Became first Vol to start at No. 1 singles as a freshman since John-Patrick Smith in 2008. Only one of seven freshman to play No. 1 singles as a freshman for UT. Four of those past top freshmen (Andy Kohlberg, Mike DePalmer Jr., Chris Woodruff, Smith) later went on to be ranked No. 1 nationally ... Picked up SEC Freshman of the Week honors after going undefeated at No. 1 singles and doubles against Memphis and Eastern Kentucky ... Earned a three-set victory against Ole Miss freshman Nik Scholtz, a former ITF top 10 ... Collected first top-40 wins of his career at the Blue Gray National Tennis Classic, beating No. 33 Gonzalo Escobar of Texas Tech and No. 34 James Meredith of Boise State in straight sets ... Started SEC career with 2-0 start in both singles and doubles at the No. 1 position. Against Florida, he and Hunter Reese collected their first top-10 win, beating eighth-ranked Nassim Slilam and Billy Federhofer 8-4 ... Cracked the national top-10 in doubles, coming in at No. 7 with Reese. Believed to be the first all-freshman UT pair to reach top 10 in program history ... Snapped 4-match losing streak to go 2-0 in singles at the SEC Championships. He picked up his first top-10 singles win, beating No. 10 Artem Illyushin 7-6 (6), 6-2. FALL: Wrapped up his first collegiate season by posting 8-1 singles and 9-2 doubles records ... Won both singles and doubles titles in his first collegiate tournament, sweeping the top spots at the Tennessee Fall Invitational, beating teammate Brandon Fickey 6-3, 7-6 (2) in the final. His doubles title came with sophomore Jarryd Chaplin ... Missed several tournaments because of injury but returned to the court in time for the USTA/ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championships ... Reached the round of 16 in singles at the home regional, but his most notable performance came in doubles. He and fellow freshmen Hunter Reese teamed up to win the championship, knocking off the top two seeds in the tournament. They beat 25th-ranked Josh MacTaggart and Stephen Vogl of Indiana 8-5 in the semifinals, then defeated 19th-ranked Eric Quigley and Alex Musialek of Kentucky in the championship ... Traveled with Reese to the 20-team field at the USTA/ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships, where they lost in the opening round.

Prior to Tennessee
Joined the Vols after a notable doubles career, both in the junior and Futures circuits ... Achieved a career-best ATP doubles ranking of No. 624 after winning one title and reaching the finals of three other events ... Had a career-best singles ranking of No. 1357 ... Represented Latvia in a 2011 Davis Cup singles match against Greece, making him the ninth Vol to participate in the international team event and the first to take the court since Simon Rea did so for New Zealand in 2007 ... Had a career-best combined junior ranking of No. 82 ... Reached the doubles quarterfinals of the Australian Open Juniors and the semifinals of the Eddie Herr Internationals ... In singles, made it to the round of 32 at Wimbledon Juniors.

Personal
Parents: Valdis Libietis and Evita Libiete ... Born July 9, 1992 in Sigulda, Latvia ... Older brother, Matiss, played for Hawaii Pacific ... Father, Valdis, coached both Mikelis and Matiss growing up.

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