Williamsburg, KY – Nearly a month after competing at the ITA Regionals, the UC men's and women's tennis programs are looking to rewrite the program's record book one more time as they get set to take part in the ITA Cup Friday, October 16, in Rome, GA.

Even before the tournament begins, the Patriots have made history as this marks the first time Cumberlands has had players competing in all four brackets; men's singles, men's doubles, women's singles, and women's doubles. Not only does UC have players competing in all four brackets, but also Cumberlands has notched the fourth seed in three of those brackets.

On the men's side, reigning ITA All-American and ITA Regional singles champion Martin Barbier has been seeded fourth in the men's singles bracket.  Barbier, who has posted a 20-5 singles record over the past two years, is matched up with Martin Mendoza of Reinhardt in the opening round, Friday at 9 a.m.  If he wins that match, he'll face the winner of Stefano Di Aloy (Indiana Wesleyan) and Nick Nienhaus (San Diego Christian) in the semifinals. 

Barbier saw success at the ITA Cup last year as he went 4-1 and reached the finals before finishing runner-up.

In addition to earning the fourth-seed in singles, Barbier along with partner Eric Banoub are seeded fourth in the men's doubles bracket.  The duo has been almost unbeatable over the past year combining for a 12-1 record, including going a perfect 4-0 at the ITA Regionals to give UC its first doubles title since 1999.  The tandem, which is only the second UC doubles team to play at the ITA Cup, will open the tournament against Julius Kaufmann and Niehaus of San Diego Christian on Friday at 4 p.m.

On the women's side, Tomomi Nagao has earned the fourth-seed in the singles bracket.  The junior has tallied a 20-4 singles record over the past two years and finished runner-up at the ITA Regionals.  Nagao, a reigning ITA All-American in both singles and doubles, squares off against Laura Eugenio of Saint Katherine on Friday at 9 a.m.  The winner of that match will play the winner of Eva Siska (Georgia Gwinnett) and Sarah Scharerer (Keiser) in the quarterfinals.

This is Nagao's second appearance at the ITA Cup as she went 2-1 last year and was ranked fourth in the ITA singles rankings.

Nagao will also be competing in the doubles bracket alongside teammate Mikaela Fros.  The duo, which is UC's first women's doubles team to qualify for the ITA Cup, will face Charoensirisutthkiul and Zambrano of Brenau to open the tournament on Friday at 4 p.m.  If UC wins that match, they'll face the winner of the Linarez-Nouws (Keiser) and Golz-Mendez (Indiana Wesleyan) in the quarterfinals.

The ITA Cup features 16 players in each bracket and serves as the National Championship for the NAIA. Complete brackets are available here, while live video of matches will be available here.
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