Broncos Head to North Carolina for Tar Heel Invitational

Saturday, January 13

Chapel Hill, N.C.

All Day

Boise State

Tar Heels Invitational: North Carolina, Columbia and Tulsa (hidden duals)

Photo of a team huddle prior to the NCAA Tournament match at Arizona, spring 2023.

Broncos Head to North Carolina for Tar Heel Invitational

1/11/2024 3:56:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: Courtesy: Boise State Athletics

BOISE, Idaho – The Boise State men's tennis team opens the 2024 spring semester with a trip to North Carolina for the Tar Heel Invitational hosted by the University of North Carolina, Jan. 13-15 (Saturday through Monday).

This competition will be in a "hidden dual" format, meaning that there will not be any head-to-head team competition; instead, the event will feature singles and doubles play only.

This is the second straight season that the Broncos have traveled to North Carolina to open the season featuring the same four teams: No. 12 Columbia, No. 13 North Carolina, Tulsa and Boise State.
In addition to two nationally ranked top-25 teams competing, the event will also feature seven nationally ranked student-athletes in singles and potentially four ranked doubles teams. Including Boise State's Sam Sippel, ranked 40th in singles, and Jan Lucca Marquardt and Kyvan Reitkerk, who are ranked No. 54 in doubles.

Event Notes

The Location: Chapel Hill, N.C. (Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center)
The Format: Hidden Duals
The Field: No. 12 Columbia, No. 13 North Carolina, Tulsa and Boise State
Live Stats: None
Live Stream: None

Team Notes

Boise State finished last year ranked 60th nationally.
Of the 32 teams that the Broncos could potentially face – several are in tournaments, so they will not face all of them – on their 2024 schedule, 17 finished ranked in the top 75 in the final ITA poll last year.
The Broncos are the defending Mountain West Tournament champions.

Individual Notes

Sippel finished the fall campaign with a 7-4 overall singles record and a 1-1 mark in doubles…the senior reached the All-American consolation quarterfinals in October, going 5-2 in singles…he enters the spring season ranked 40th nationally in singles.
Marquardt completed the fall season with a 7-5 singles record and an 11-1 mark in doubles…while partnering with Kyvan Reitkerk, the duo won the Greg Patton Invitational in October and open the spring ranked 54th nationally.
Reitkerk went 8-3 in both singles and doubles last fall…he played one tournament teamed with Marquardt in doubles, winning the Greg Patton Invitational, they enter the spring campaign ranked 54th in the NCAA.
Jip van Assendelft went 7-1 in singles last fall, advancing to the quarterfinal round of the ITA Mountain Region Championships in September.
James Van Herzeele finished the fall with a 6-1 record in singles…he reached the round of 16 in singles at the regional championship and went 4-0 at the SMU Ralston/Neufeld Coaches Challenge (hidden duals) in November.
Jett Middleton completed the fall season at 7-2 in singles, including winning the ITA Mountain Region consolation singles final against teammate Caden Moortgat.
Moortgat went 8-5 in singles play and 7-3 in doubles during the fall semester…reached the regional consolation singles final in September before falling to Middleton in the championship match.
Coaching Notes
Luke Shields is in his second season as the head coach at his alma mater, Boise State…he was named the Mountain West Coach of the Year in 2023 – the third of his career and the first with the Broncos – after leading the team to a 21-8 overall record, the MW Tournament Championship and to the first round of the NCAA tournament…his overall record as a collegiate head coach is 114-71.
Daniel Hangstefer joined the Bronco staff as the associate head coach last summer…he was the head coach at Idaho for five years prior to coming to Boise State.