Men's Tennis | 2/27/2020 3:26:00 PM

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. -- A special weekend in Buccaneer history is about to take place with both of BarryU's tennis teams set to take on the Inaugural Division II Indoor Championships. 

MEN

The inaugural ITA Division II National Men's Team Indoor Championship will kick off on Friday in Oklahoma City at the Oklahoma City Tennis Center. The top five programs in the country are competing this weekend: No. 2 Columbus State, No. 3 West Florida, No. 4 Wingate University, No 5 Saint Leo. Rounding out the field is No. 9 Hawaii Pacific, No. 14 Flagler, and Midwestern State round out the field.

Reigning NCAA champion and top-ranked Barry will face off against host Midwestern State on Friday in the opening round. The Buccaneers have played in the NCAA championship match for the last three years straight. The field boasts the NCAA champions dating back to 2013.

Alejandro Ibañez Gallego, the top-ranked player in the nation, will look to lead the Bucs this weekend. All-in-all, Barry has four players in the top-50 rankings with Alessandro Giuliato checking in at 10^th, Carlos Gomez in 37^th, and Alejandro Ortega Palacios at 42^nd. The Bucs also have the 8^th-ranked doubles team in the South Region. In addition, Pierre Montriel who was a last minute returner finished the previous year ranked as third best player in the nation.

WOMEN

The top Division II women's programs are set to face off for the crown of being the first ever ITA Division II National Women's Team Indoor champions. The championship, hosted by the University of Central Oklahoma, will take place in Edmond, Oklahoma at the Oak Tree Country Club just 20 miles away from where the inaugural DII Men Indoor Championship is taking place.

The matches will be intense during the first Indoor championship; seven of the eight teams fall within the top 10 programs in the current Oracle ITA rankings. The field consists of No. 1 Barry University, No. 3 Columbus State University, No. 4 University of Indianapolis, No. 5 Nova Southeastern University, No. 6 Saint Leo University, No. 8 Hawaii Pacific University, No. 9 University of Central Oklahoma, and Washburn University.

Barry boasts the current UTR ITA Division II Women's Player of the Week, Xiyao Wang. Adel-Byanu Abidullina of UCO was awarded the first UTR ITA Player of the Week and will be competing as well.

The Bucs lineup features three other top-50 players with Jil Engelmann checking in at 5^th, Julie Razafindranaly at 41^st, and Daniela Farfan at 47^th.