Event: Aggie Invitational
Where: Marya Welch Tennis Center — Davis, Calif.
When: Saturday, Oct. 4 at 9:00 a.m.; Sunday, Oct. 5 at 9:00 a.m.; Monday, Oct. 6 at 9:00 a.m.
The Aggie Invitational is the UC Davis men’s tennis team’s home tournament in the fall, and will feature some of the best tennis on the west coast, according to Aggie head coach Eric Steidlmayer. The tournament will be played at the Marya Welch Tennis Center on the UC Davis campus and runs from Oct. 4 to 6, with play commencing each morning at nine.
The invitational features three separate brackets, called the A, B and C brackets, and the Aggies have players competing in all three. This means that there will be plenty for the Aggie Pack to cheer about.
Steidlmayer leads the men’s team into his second season as head coach. He previously coached at UC San Diego for 14 seasons. His teams there made 12 consecutive NCAA Division II postseason appearances, and his tenure at UC San Diego is highlighted by a 20-0 season in 2011.
Steidlmayer helped to improve the Aggies’ overall team record by three games in his first season and also helped each player’s individual performances improve sharply. He has brought a winning mentality and a dogged determination to UC Davis men’s tennis.
The men’s team features a number of key returning players and will also include some important new cogs as well. The returning top players include seniors Parker Kelly and Kyle Miller, and sophomore Brett Bacharach. These three started all of UC Davis’ matches last year and will look to help provide veteran leadership to the three standout freshman who supplement the men’s tennis roster.
High school All-American and 34th nationally-ranked prospect Alec Adamson leads the new class along with James Wade, ranked 45th nationally, and Bryce McKelvie.
“All three freshmen bring a good fighting spirit, a calmness to themselves and are good players,” coach Steidlmayer said.
This up-and-coming team will put their new mentality on show at the Aggie Invitational and will be challenged by the likes of the nationally-ranked Oregon, as well as Stanford and California, amongst others.
At the very least it will be an interesting litmus test for a team whose goals are to make the conference championships and be nationally-ranked by the end of the season.
— Vic Anderson
