Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Men's Tennis begins fall season at MTSU Shootout
09/19/2013 | 12:00:00 | Men's Tennis
Sept. 19, 2013
By Amanda Erd
SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill.-- The Southern Illinois University men's tennis team is set to head to Murfreesboro, Tenn. to open the fall season at the MTSU Dale Short Shootout this weekend.
The Salukis will compete in the three-day event at the Buck Bouldin Tennis Center at Middle Tennessee State University. Play begins on Friday Sept. 21.
"This first tournament will be a good gauge of where we are as a team and will give us more information on what we will need to work on moving forward," said SIU head coach Dann Nelson.
Joining the Salukis will be competitors from Lipscomb, University of Alabama at Birmingham and host MTSU.
The Shootout will be a in a mock dual format in which Southern will have three doubles matches and six singles matches over the course of the weekend.
Returning for the Salukis this season will be Juniors Jorge Cavero and Szymon Opieczonek, senior Rafael Cuadrillero and sophomore Jonny Rigby. The Salukis will be without two key players from last season after losing Orhan Spahic and Brandon Florez to graduation.
Southern Illinois welcomes two new recruits this season, Michal Kianicka and Filip Aleksic. Prior to the season, the duo was ranked the 14th best recruit class in the nation by the Tennis Recruiting Network.
"I am eager to see how our new players compete and how we stack up to the competition as a team," Nelson said.
Southern ended its 2012-13 season with a top-three finish in the Missouri Valley Conference and a record of 13-6, 6-2 MVC. The Salukis fell to Wichita State in the conference semifinals.
The Dale Short Shootout will conclude on Sunday Sept. 23.
