By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – A plethora of purple and gold was the story in the OVC men's tennis predicted order of finish and preseason player top 10, announced by the conference Friday morning after a vote among the league's head coaches.
Not only did the Tennessee Tech tennis team claim the top spot among the conference's six men's tennis schools in the preseason rankings, but the Golden Eagles also secured an OVC-best four individuals among the top 10.
TTU heads into the spring winners of three straight OVC Tournament titles, three consecutive NCAA appearances and six regular-season conference crowns in the last eight years.
Freshman Rafael Tosetto took home the No. 1 preseason ranking, one of three TTU newcomers to find themselves on the noteworthy list. Junior transfer Fanis Kontopoulos tied for third, while freshman Elias Grubert tied for 10th in the rankings. Senior Wenceslao Albin, the lone Golden Eagle returner among the quartet, was placed in a tie for fifth.
Tennessee Tech was one of only three OVC schools to plant more than one player on the list of 10. Belmont saw three Bruins make the cut and Jacksonville State placed a pair on the list.
Tosetto, a product Jacarei, Brazil, turned heads during the fall season with a club-leading 11 singles wins, highlighted by a dominant performance in the ITA Men's All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla. at the end of September. The Golden Eagle rookie won all four of his pre-qualifying matches before collecting a pair of victories in the qualifying draw for a total of six wins in one of the nation's premier tournaments in the fall.
Kontopoulos, a transfer from North Carolina Central, impressed during the autumn months with a 9-5 singles record that included four nods in the ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championships in mid-October.
Albin's top-five preseason ranking should come as little surprise after the Salliquelo, Argentina native compiled a strong junior campaign in his first season as a Golden Eagle last year. Primarily serving as Tech's No. 2 singles competitor, Albin registered a 4-2 OVC singles mark and a 5-0 conference doubles record en route to an All-OVC second-team selection.
Grubert, who hails from Parana, Argentina, won four singles matches during the fall and has already started off Tech's spring season with a victory out of the No. 4 spot against Northern Illinois.
The Golden Eagles have already started the 2019 season with three matches in Des Moines, Iowa from Jan. 19-21. After dropping back-to-back contests to Drake and Northern Illinois, Tech bounced back with a 4-0 victory over Illinois State.
TTU will next hit the courts on Feb. 10 at Wake Forest against the defending national champions.
2019 OVC Men's Tennis Predicted Order of Finish
(voted on by the league's head coaches)
1. Tennessee Tech (4) – 24
2. Belmont (2) – 21
3. Jacksonville State – 18
4. Austin Peay – 11
5. Eastern Illinois – 10
6. Tennessee State – 6
2019 OVC Men's Tennis Preseason Player Top 10
(voted on by the league's head coaches)
1. Rafael Tosetto, Tennessee Tech – Fr. – Jacarei, Brazil
2. Hendrik Inno, Belmont – Jr. – Someru, Estonia
T3. Aljaz Kaplja, Jacksonville State– So. – Radomlje, Slovenia
T3. Fanis Kontopoulos, Tennessee Tech – Jr. – Corinthos, Greece
T5. Marko Ilic, Belmont – So. – Zagreb, Croatia
T5. Wenceslao Albin, Tennessee Tech – Sr. – Salliquelo, Argentina
7. Almantos Ozelis, Austin Peay - Sr. – Marijampole, Lithuania
8. Vincent Sterkens, Belmont – Jr. -Antwerp, Belgium
9. Guillermo Agost, Jacksonville State – Jr. – Logrono, Span
T10. Freddie O'Brien, Eastern Illinois – Jr. – Surrey, United Kingdom
T10. Elias Grubert, Tennessee Tech – Fr.- Parana, Argentina
