Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Salukis will play four matches during spring break
03/10/2016 | 12:00:00 | Men's Tennis
Tony McDaniel
SIUSalukis.com
JACKSON, Miss.--- The men's tennis team will spend its spring break playing four matches during the hiatus from class. The Salukis will play a double header against Jackson State and Alcorn State on Friday, Mar. 11. The following day the Salukis will square up against Florida A&M. All three matches will be played in Jackson, Miss. The team will finish out its spring break trip against Troy on Mar. 15 in Destin, Fla.
"We're getting an opportunity to play four matches on this trip down south," head coach Dann Nelson said. "Playing competitive matches outdoors is going to help us get ready for conference. We're on a bit of a hot streak and are focused on keeping that going."
Scouting Jackson State: Jackson State is currently 3-7 on the season and 2-0 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. The Tigers have won three of their last four matches. Two of Jackson State's losses came against Tulane, a team that is currently ranked 21st in the Oracle/ITA Collegiate Men's National Team Rankings.
Series History vs. Jackson State:
This will be the first meeting between Jackson State and SIU.
Scouting Alcorn State:
Alcorn State is 0-6 so far this season, but the team's schedule leading up to its match against SIU has been a gauntlet of tough teams. Two of Alcorn State's six losses came to nationally ranked teams in LSU and Mississippi State. A third loss came against Southern Mississippi, a team that has two singles players and a doubles team ranked in the southern region.
The Braves' coach, Anthony Dodgen, is in his 13th season with the team. Since 1999 he has won five SWAC titles with his last coming in 2009. Dodgen also oversees the women's program at Alcorn State.
Series history vs. Alcorn:
This will be the first meeting between SIU and Alcorn State.
Scouting Florida A&M:
Florida A&M represents the third and final team SIU will face from the SWAC during its spring break road trip. The Rattlers are 3-7 on the season and do not have any nationally or regionally ranked players on the roster. The team does, however, make up for that with a roster made up mostly of upperclassmen. Florida A&M has five juniors, two sophomores and two freshmen.
Series history vs. Florida A&M:
This will be the first meeting between SIU and Florida A&M.
Scouting Troy:
Troy is 6-10 so far, but on paper looks to be SIU's toughest competition during the road trip. The Trojans were just 1-9 through their first 10 matches, but all but one match came against a nationally-ranked opponent. The team's one win in that stretch came against Texas-San Antonio, 4-0, in Norman, Okla. Since then, Troy has posted a 6-1 record. Troy will play another six matches before taking on Southern next Tuesday.
Troy has one player ranked in the Southern Region. Giovani Samaha is the 18th ranked singles player in Troy's region. He is 5-7 so far in the dual match season but was 8-3 in the tournament season.
Series history vs. Troy:
This will be the first meeting between Troy and SIU.
Ranked Salukis:
Jonny Rigby and Michal Kianicka's outstanding play this season has garnered them national and regional recognition. Rigby and Kianicka are currently ranked 47th in the Oracle/ITA Men's Division I Men's Doubles Rankings. The duo is ranked fourth in the Central Region after posting a 7-2 record in the fall and a 2-2 record in the dual match season. Alex Pozo and Wilder Pimentel join Rigby and Kianicka in the regional rankings as the 7th ranked doubles pairing in the Central Region. Pimentel and Pozo were 4-0 in their first half-season playing together so far in the dual match season Pozo and Pimentel are 5-2.
Fantastic fall season:
Southern Illinois had one of its best tournament seasons in school history in the fall. The Salukis finished 72-33 in all of its combined singles and doubles matches throughout the fall. SIU took home five individual trophies from the Purdue Fall Invitational in September when SIU took home the Flight A and Flight B doubles and the Flight A singles title. The Salukis were also runners-up in the Flight C singles draw and Flight C doubles draw at the same tournament. Three players, Michal Kianicka, Peter Molloy and Wilder Pimentel finished the fall with nine wins in singles play, which is good enough for a six-way tie for sixth place on SIU's all-time fall singles wins list. The Salukis finished the fall season by going 15-0 against Eastern Illinois at the SIU Fall Classic.
Chasing records:
SIU's top doubles team of Jonny Rigby and Michal Kianicka could go down as the best partnership in school history by the time Rigby finishes his playing career at the end of the season. Kianicka and Rigby are just four doubles wins away from breaking Mickey Maule and Fabiano Ramos's 26-year-old mark of 44 wins as a doubles team. Rigby already holds the school record for individual doubles wins with 58. Kianicka is 10 wins behind Rigby in fourth all-time with 51 wins. The duo is ninth all-time on SIU's doubles win percentage list with a mark of .760. On Feb. 21, Rigby moved in second all-time on SIU's all-time wins list in singles and doubles
matches combined. Rigby passed Fabiano Ramos's 27-year-old mark with his win in doubles against Eastern Illinois. He currently has 133 wins and is 27 wins away from tying Mickey Maule's first place mark of 160 wins.
Tremendous Transfers:
SIU has gained two players, Wilder Pimentel and Piotr Baranski, from transfers this season. Both players have provided huge boosts to SIU's skill level and depth this season.
Pimentel left Virginia Commonwealth University following a season in which he helped the Rams to the Atlantic-10 Conference finals against George Washington and earned a spot on the First Team All-Atlantic-10 Conference team. For SIU, Pimentel made an immediate impact winning the Flight B doubles draw at the Purdue Fall Invitational with his partner Alex Pozo. That duo's play earned them a ranking in the Oracle/ITA Division I Men's Tennis Central Region Rankings at the No. 7 spot. Pimentel finished the fall season a combined 13-5 in singles and doubles matches. He has already added his name to the SIU record book in his five months at the school. He is tied for sixth on SIU's all-time fall singles wins list. Pimentel is 8-1 so far in singles this season at the No.2 and No. 3 spot.
Baranski joined the team early in February. The Poland native played professionally for three years before transferring to SIU. Since turning pro at the age of 19, Baranski has gone 8-10 in ATP and ITF Pro Circuit doubles events, and 1-5 in singles events. He has been ranked as high as 1,210th in the world in doubles and 1,856th in singles. Baranski is the only current Saluki with a professional ranking. In his short career with the Salukis he has posted a perfect 10-0 record in singles and doubles matches.
Players Mentioned
