By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech tennis team saw its name at the top of the list in the 2020 OVC men's tennis predicted order of finish, while three Golden Eagles helped headline the preseason player top 10, announced by the conference Thursday morning following a vote among the league's head coaches.
Tech finished tied with Belmont for the top spot in the six-team poll, with each club garnering three first-place votes among the league's six head coaches. The Golden Eagles also tied the Bruins and Jacksonville State for the most players in the preseason top 10 behind the recognition of three players apiece.
Rafael Tosetto took home the No. 3 slot in the preseason rankings, while Elias Grubert earned a seventh-place ranking and Carlos Vicente was named to the No. 9 position in the poll's top 10.
The Golden Eagles enter the 2020 campaign with four straight OVC Tournament titles as well as seven regular-season championships in the last nine years. Tech claimed a share of last year's regular-season crown with a 4-1 record, but was awarded the No. 1 seed in the conference tourney due to tiebreakers. TTU went on to win the OVC Tournament with a 4-0 nod over Eastern Illinois in the semifinals and a 4-2 triumph against Jacksonville State in the championship match.
Tech's four consecutive tourney titles marked the first four-peat for the OVC since a run of eight straight championships by Middle Tennessee in the early to late 90s. The Golden Eagles are the only team out of the current six league members that has ever won four championships in a row.
Rafael Tosetto enters his sophomore season after a strong rookie campaign that saw the Jacarei, Brazil native serve as Tech's only player to appear in the No. 1 singles spot throughout the spring. Tosetto notched a 10-10 record out of the vaunted top position, highlighted by a 4-1 OVC mark. During the 2019 fall, the 5-foot-8 sophomore posted a 7-5 singles ledger.
Elias Grubert, the only Golden Eagle to claim back-to-back singles wins in Tech's season-opening two-match swing at Mississippi State, heads into his sophomore campaign after earning an All-OVC second-team accolade as a freshman in 2019. The Parana, Argentina product posted a 4-1 record out of the No. 3 singles slot during the spring and went 3-1 during OVC action. In the fall, Grubert paced the Golden Eagles with a 9-4 singles mark.
Sophomore Carlos Vicente rounds out Tech's preseason top 10 showing after a highly decorated 2019 spring season in which he claimed the OVC Freshman of the Year honor and was named an All-OVC first-teamer. The Valencia, Spain native spent more time in the No. 2 singles position than any other Golden Eagle, going 5-5 in those clashes. Vicente went 5-6 this past fall during singles play.
Having already begun the spring season with a pair of hard-fought losses to nationally-ranked Mississippi State, Tech will be at No. 7 Wake Forest on Saturday, Jan. 18. First serve in Winston-Salem, N.C. is slated for 5 p.m. CT.
Photo by Thomas Corhern