Southern Illinoise University Athletics
SIU Tennis Dawgs Open Season at Middle Tennessee State
09/10/2003 | 12:00:00 | Men's Tennis
Sept. 10, 2003
By Dustin Thompson
www.SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Southern Illinois University men's tennis team will begin their fall season by playing in the 17th annual Middle Tennessee Fall Classic September 12-14.
The invitational will be held at the Middle Tennessee State campus in Murfreesboro, Tenn. at the Buck Bouldin Tennis Center. The participants in this year's tournament are Arkansas-Little Rock, Austin Peay, Belmont, Chattanooga, Cumberland University, Georgia Southern, Lindsey Wilson College, Memphis , Middle Tennessee, Southern Illinois, Tennessee Tech, Vanderbilt, and Western Kentucky.
SIU head coach Missy Jeffrey has confidence her team will be able to compete in the strong field of teams in the tournament.
"The Middle Tennessee Invitational is a really good tournament for us, everyone seems to do well, and its the first tournament of the year, so everyone is excited to play," said Jeffrey. "We get to see teams that are on our level, some teams that are weaker than us, and then we also get to see teams that are nationally ranked every year. The mix of the tournament is the best thing about it."
The Salukis look to focus on a few key goals during the tournament, building their confidence and showing improvement. "The goals for this tournament as a team deal with how well we compete and that we make constant improvements from match to match," explained Jeffrey. Coach Jeffrey said her objectives this fall are to have her players come away with a high level of confidence and be able to see improvements in her players by the end of the season.
The pairings for the Middle Tennessee Invitational will be posted by 5 P.M. at goblueraiders.com. Pairings will be updated periodically Friday and Saturday and then after the completion of the tournament on Sunday.
