University of Tennessee Athletics
Tennessee Well Represented in ITA Preseason Rankings
September 10, 2002 | Men's Tennis
Sept. 10, 2002
The Intercollegiate Tennis Association released its preseason Division I Omni Hotels Collegiate Tennis Rankings Monday.
The Vols open the fall season with two players, sophomore Mark Dietrich and junior Wade Orr, holding top 100 singles rankings. In addition, two Tennessee doubles tandems also begin the 2002-03 campaign with top 50 rankings.
Dietrich is Tennessee's highest ranked singles player entering the fall campaign, holding down the 48th spot in the rankings. The sophomore from Memphis was a key contributor to last year's team, which advanced to the final four of the NCAA Championships in May. Dietrich earned three semifinal singles appearances last fall to go along with an SEC doubles title in the spring.
While Orr goes into the fall ranked 82nd, the Clarksville native looks to capitalize on the momentum he gained on the ITA summer circuit. Orr made history at the ITA National Summer Championships in August by becoming the first repeat men's singles champion in the history of the event. To make his week in Bloomington, Ind., even more impressive, he teamed with Lee-Taylor Walker from the University of Memphis to take home the doubles championship as well.
In doubles, the Vol tandem of Dietrich and junior Simon Rea hold a No. 31 preseason ranking nationally. The duo posted a 5-1 record while teaming together in 2001-02. A native of New Zealand, Rea's doubles highlights last season included a runner-up finish in the Region III doubles championships in Knoxville. Last season, Rea teamed with departed senior Mario Toledo and the duo ended the year with a doubles rank of No. 26.
Cracking the top 50 rankings at No. 45, Orr and sophomore Mark Henderson make up the other ranked doubles team for Tennessee. Though the two never played together last season, Henderson compiled a doubles record of 10-5 while playing with various partners, and Orr managed a doubles record of 7-2. Henderson, an Australian native, lettered for the Vols last season and is the least experienced of four returners to this year's squad.
"It was encouraging to see Mark Dietrich, Wade Orr, Simon Rea and Mark Henderson in the preseason rankings," Tennessee Associate Head Coach Chris Mahony said. "However, our coaching staff and players understand that these rankings are just a starting point. We have a lot of work to do between now and January, so each and every player on our squad is expected to make a jump during the fall semester. We are looking forward to the start of the tournament schedule because we are ready to compete."
The Omni Hotels Collegiate Tennis Rankings (singles, doubles and team) are administered by the ITA, and are voted on by the ITA National Ranking Committee. In Division I, the rankings are determined by a computerized system, using the ITA's average points-per-match formula. They are released 17 times during the season (preseason, fall and 14 times on a weekly basis in the spring and year-end). The top 75 Division I teams, top 100 singles players and top 50 doubles teams receive an ITA ranking. The ITA Rankings are also used in selection of all ITA National Championships as well as the USTA/ITA National Team Indoor Championships.
