Lions face Mavs at 9:30 a.m. on Friday
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Southeastern Louisiana men’s tennis team will open play at the Southland Conference Tournament on Friday with a 9:30 a.m. first round match versus UT Arlington at the HEB Tennis Center.
The winner of Friday’s match between the fourth-seeded Lions (11-9) and No. 5 Mavs (9-10) will face tournament host, top seed and SLC regular season champion Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 9:30 a.m. in the semifinals on Saturday. Saturday’s semifinal winners will face off for the tournament title on Sunday at 12 p.m. with the winner earning the league’s automatic berth in the NCAA Championships.
Southeastern closed out the regular season by winning five of its last six matches. The Lions rebounded from a 0-2 start in league play, taking three of the final four SLC contests.
SLC Newcomer of the Year and Lion senior
Guillaume Capovin leads the Lions with a 15-5 singles record, playing predominantly at the No. 5 spot in the singles draw. Freshman
Damien Cordoba (13-7) and junior
Benjamin Enke (12-8) have the other top singles marks on the Lion roster.
Freshman
Jan Bezdecka (8-9) joined Capovin on the All-SLC squad, after finishing 4-2 in league play in singles action. Sophomores
Stepan Siska (8-12) and
Julien Roussel (7-5) round out the Southeastern singles draw.
Siska and Enke are 9-3 at No. 1 doubles and are currently ranked 72nd nationally. At No. 3, Cordoba and Roussel (4-1) were selected to the All-SLC team after winning three of four SLC matches.
UT Arlington features three All-SLC performers in their lineup – SLC Freshman of the Year Mindaugas Celedinas (11-7), David Subirats (8-7) and Gonzalo Bienzobas (10-7). Celedinas and Dmitry Minkin lead the team with a 12-6 doubles mark.
In the regular season, Southeastern picked up its first-ever win over UTA, defeating the Mavs, 4-3, in Hammond on April 10. The Lions picked up doubles victories at No. 1 and No. 3 to take the doubles points. Singles victories by Cordoba, Capovin and Enke clinched the win for Southeastern.
2009 Southland Conference Men’s Tennis Tournament
Friday, April 24
First Round
Match 1 – No. 3 UTSA vs. No. 6 Nicholls State – 9:30 a.m.
Match 2 – No. 4 Southeastern Louisiana vs. No. 5 UT Arlington – 9:30 a.m.
Saturday, April 25
Semifinals
Match 3 – Match 1 Winner vs. No. 2 Texas-Pan American – 9:30 a.m.
Match 4 – Match 2 Winner vs. No. 1 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi – 9:30 a.m.
Sunday, April 26
Finals
Championship Match – Semifinal winners – 12 p.m.