BRADENTON, Fla. (May 4, 2024) – The University of North Alabama men's tennis team kicks off their 2024 UTR NIT Championship appearance on Sunday, May 5, matching up against No. 56 Liberty in Bradenton, Fla.
The season continues on for the Lions, who travel back to Florida to make their first appearance at the invitational in program history. The Lions will be competing in an eight-team field representing six different conferences.
The Lions open against the defending NIT champions, also renewing an ASUN rivalry in the matchup. Liberty played in the conference from 2018-23, with Sunday serving as the first encounter since the Flames moved to Conference USA.
The dual will take place at the IMG Academy Tennis Courts with first serve scheduled for 2:30 p.m. EST and 1:30 p.m. CST for fans following along in the Shoals. The winner will advance to the semifinal round set for Tuesday, May 7, before ending with the final Wednesday, May 8.
All matches will be available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video and free for Prime members. Full results and a recap posted on RoarLions.com following the action, but fans can also follow along on the UNA Tennis social media pages.
MATCHUP
North Alabama vs. Liberty
Sunday, May 5, 2024
1:30 p.m.
Watch |
Twitter
ABOUT THE NIT CHAMPIONSHIPS: The Lions will be playing in the second rendition of the NIT Championships. The 2023 season served as the inaugural year of the tournament, with eight teams competing from May 17-20 in Atlanta, Ga. Teams will play standard college dual matches, meaning each matchup will be three doubles sets followed by six singles matches. Play will stop when the dual match is clinched — meaning the first team to four points.
SCOUTING THE LIONS: North Alabama heads into the Liberty dual winning 56.6 percent of their singles matches and 57.9 percent of their doubles on the season. Each player has at least three wins on the season in doubles, with sophomore
Lachlan Brain and junior
Nazar Fedoryshyn leading with 13 wins. Reigning ASUN Freshman of the Year
Izan Orgiles follows Brain and Fedoryshyn with 12 wins, along with sophomore
Federico Scotuzzi. Each player has at least two wins in singles with six securing nine or more wins. Unanimous ASUN All-Freshman team selection
Birtan Duran is the leader in singles wins with 17, followed by Orgiles (14), Fedoryshyn (13), Brain (11) and Scotuzzi (11).
SO FAR, SO GOOD: UNA looks to add to its 2024 season; a year that has seen the Lions break multiple program records. North Alabama has a Division I program-record 16 wins, along with finishing with the most home (7) and away (5) wins in Division I program history. The Lions also are in the midst of their most decorated Division I season with three ASUN Player of the Week honors and four ASUN postseason honors, as well as their second all-time ASUN Tournament win over Lipscomb on April 19.
POSTSEASON AWARDS: The ASUN announced four postseason awards for the Lions on April 18, including Orgiles as the ASUN Freshman of the Year. He and Duran were both selected to the all-freshman team, including a unanimous selection for Duran. Brain was named to the all-conference first team.
SCOUTING THE FLAMES: Liberty matches up with North Alabama, looking to defend their 2023 NIT Championship title. The Flames enter the tournament at 17-8 overall, falling to Middle Tennessee State in the Conference USA Men's Tennis Championship final. Liberty sports a 52-35 record in doubles with a 59.8 percent win rate while 126-76 in singles with a 62.4 percent win rate. The Flames have six players with at least 10 wins in doubles as Matija Samardzic leads with 19 wins. Liberty has six players with over 11 wins in singles, with five players victorious in at least 17. Luis Felipe Miguel, Deji Thomas-Smith and Chase Robinson are the top three singles players with 23, 21 and 20 wins, respectively. The head coach for the Flames is Derek Schwandt.
SERIES HISTORY: UNA will look to claim its first win in the sixth all-time meeting against the Flames.
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
