Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Salukis set to begin ITA Central Regional
10/14/2015 | 12:00:00 | Men's Tennis
By Tony McDaniel
SIUSalukis.com
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.-- Saluki tennis is back on the road this week in Fayetteville, Ark., for the ITA Central Regional. The tournament starts Thursday and will end on Sunday.
"We look forward to this tournament every year," coach Dann Nelson said. "We play in one of the toughest regions and want to see what we can do against very good competition."
The Salukis will be pitted against stiff competition. Teams that will be at this week's tournament will be Oklahoma, who finished second at last year's NCAA National Championships. Minnesota, who finished ranked No. 21 in the nation last season, will also be at the ITA Central Regional. Tournament host, Arkansas, will be formidable competitors for SIU; Arkansas was ranked No. 8 in the central region at the end of last season. Missouri Valley Conference foes, Drake and Wichita State will send players to the ITA Central Regional as well.
In the opening round of singles play at the ITA Central Regional, SIU junior, Michal Kianicka will face Oral Roberts' Jan Penec. Sophomore, Peter Molloy will play Iowa's Lefteris Theodoru in a rematch from last weekend's Champaign Challenger. Theodoru defeated Molloy in that match 7-5, 7-6 (4-0). Saluki sophomore, Shane Trebisky will face Oklahoma's Sam Gray. In an MVC matchup, junior, Wilder Pimentel will face Drake's Ben Stride. Senior, Jonny Rigby will face Amar Saletovic from Oral Roberts. SIU's sophomore, Daniel Martinez, will play Amaury Navette from Missouri-Kansas City. In the final singles pairing Thomas Kyle will play Oklahoma's Austin Siegel.
In doubles, Molloy and Kyle will face Wichita States duo of Jocelyn DeVilliers and Sergio de Vilchez. Pimentel and Trebisky will paly Eddie Stoica and Vitor Mendes, another duo from Wichita State. Rigby and Kianicka will go up against Tulsa's Mitchell Prichard and Matthew Kirby.
At last year's event, Oklahoma's Axel Alvarez took home the regional championship with a 7-6 (2), 6-4 win over Minnesota's Leonardo Toledo. Alvarez, who was just a sophomore last year, will likely return to defend his title.
Last season, the Saluki that advanced the farthest in the Regional Championship was senior, Jonny Rigby. Rigby made it to the round of 32 with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Nebraska's Ford Zitsch. Oklahoma's Nick Papac defeated Rigby in three sets.
This year, the Salukis are a much-improved team and stand to have a better chance of reaching the later rounds of the ITA Central Regional. On last season's roster Rigby, junior, Michal Kianicka, and Szymon Opieczonek, who is a coach on the team now, were the only upperclassmen on a team with six freshmen. That season, the Salukis were 14-17 in singles matches in their two tournaments leading up to the ITA Central Regional. This season SIU has posted a 32-18 record in singles matches in the three tournaments leading up to the Regional Championships.
The ITA Central regional begins Thursday in Fayetteville, Ark.
Players Mentioned
