By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Locked and loaded for another campaign on the courts, the Tennessee Tech tennis team learned of its preseason positioning thanks to Thursday afternoon's release of the 2024 Horizon League Men's Tennis Preseason Poll.

The Golden Eagles were selected to finish tied for second in the conference's South Division, knotting in-state foe Tennessee State with 27 total points apiece. Belmont took home the top spot in the six-team South Division behind 36 total points thanks in large part to securing all six first-place votes.

Cleveland State was chosen to claim the five-club North Division with 22 total points and a division-leading three first-place votes.

Tech made a splash in its inaugural year in the Horizon League on the way to advancing to the conference tournament championship match in the spring of 2023. The Golden Eagles topped Northern Kentucky, the 2024 preseason No. 2 in the North Division, in the quarterfinals before besting the aforementioned Cleveland State in last year's semifinal clash to advance to the program's seventh-straight conference tournament championship match.

TTU was ultimately upended by Belmont in the final, in the fifth-straight season the two schools hooked up in a match for all the marbles after routinely going toe-to-toe in a championship setting as members of the Ohio Valley Conference.

Tech ended the 2023 regular season with a South Division second-place finish thanks to a 7-2 league ledger.

The Golden Eagles are set to unwrap the 2024 campaign with a Saturday trip to Knoxville and a familiar meeting with No. 6 Tennessee. First serve is slated for 2 p.m. CT.

Photo by Jim Dillon