Terps Face Michigan Friday in NCAAs
May 12, 2011
LIKE! Maryland Athletics on Facebook
• The 44th-ranked Maryland Terrapins (12-12) are making their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Championship. The Terps will face No. 29 Michigan (13-10) at 10 a.m. Friday in first-round action at Duke's Ambler Tennis Stadium. The winner of that match will play either the Blue Devils, who are the No. 11 overall seed in the tournament, or George Washington on Saturday. The Terps are seeded third in the Duke bracket, while the Wolverines, who are making their sixth-straight NCAA appearance, are the No. 2 seed.
• The Terps, who reached as high as No. 42 in the ITA rankings this season, feature an extremely young roster. Nine of the team's 11 players are either freshmen or sophomores.
• Junior Maros Horny, a transfer from Baylor, is No. 106 in the latest ITA singles rankings. Horny has 16 singles wins this year, including an upset victory over then-No. 1 John Patrick Smith of Tennessee in the fall. Sophomore John Collins has also been a key cog in the singles lineup, posting a team-high 22 wins, including four over nationally-ranked foes. Sophomore Tommy Laine ranks second on the Terps in singles wins with 21, including a team-high 15 dual victories. Sophomore Jesse Kiuru has been the hottest Terp, winning six of his last nine dual singles matches.
• Maros Horny is nationally ranked in doubles with a pair of partners. He and Jan Surovic are No. 77, while Horny and John Collins are 34th, having gone 6-2 on the year, including two wins over nationally-ranked tandems. Collins has a team-high 18 doubles wins and Horny has posted 16.
• Head coach Kyle Spencer is in his second season at Maryland. The 2009 ITA National Assistant Coach of the Year spent three seasons with Baylor prior to joining the Terps. Spencer is continuing to build the program, leading the Terps to victories over five ranked opponents in 2011. Maryland amassed a total of five victories over ranked foes in the previous five years. The Terps have faced a total of 17 ranked opponents this spring, and all of Maryland's losses occurred against top 50 competition.
