2019-20 Sun Belt Men’s Tennis News and Notes:
Standings | Composite Schedule | Stats
AROUND #SUNBELTTEN
• Sun Belt Conference men’s tennis has 13 matches on the docket this week with two teams participating in the 2020 Intercollegiate Tennis Association Kickoff Weekend.
• As ranked teams from a year ago, Georgia State and South Alabama are participating in two of the 15 four-team brackets for ITA Kickoff Weekend. The bracket winners advance to the 2020 Oracle ITA Division I National Men's Team Indoor Championship set for Feb. 14-17 in Madison, Wisc. The Panthers are the No. 2 seed in the bracket hosted by fourth-ranked North Carolina and the Jaguars are the No. 4 seed in the bracket hosted by ninth-ranked Texas A&M.
• Georgia Southern seniors Murphy McCullough and Santiago Suarez picked up the Sun Belt's first ranked win of the spring with a 6-3 victory over the ninth-ranked ranked doubles team of Franco Aubone and Benjamin Hannestad of Miami (Fla.) on Jan. 19.
• Four teams have already picked up at least one dual match win in the early going this spring, led by Louisiana at 6-1. The Ragin Cajuns have combined for a 22-7 record in singles and 14-1 mark in doubles in their first seven spring matches.
• All nine Georgia State student-athletes received academic honors from the university for another successful semester in the classroom, producing a 3.37 grade point average for the fall 2019 semester.
• The final fall
Oracle/ITA Division I Men's National Rankings saw South Alabama seniors Loïc Cloes and Clément Marzol ranked 30th in doubles and Cloes ranked 113th in singles.
• The 2020 Sun Belt Men's Tennis Championship returns to the Peachtree City Tennis Center in Peachtree City, Ga., on April 16-19.
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Ivailo Keremedchiev, Louisiana (Fr., Sofia Bulgaria)
Louisiana freshman Ivailo Keremedchiev started his first season with the Ragin' Cajuns with three singles and three doubles wins to open dual match play. Keremedchiev picked up an impressive 7-5, 6-4 win over Florida State's Juan Martin Jalif at No. 2 singles. He also picked up a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Alcorn State's Gjorgji Popovski at No. 1 singles. In doubles, Keremedchiev paired with two different teammates to earn three wins at No. 2 doubles.
2020 Weekly Award Winners
January 22: Ivailo Keremedchiev, Louisiana
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Friday, January 24
Troy at Belmont, 6 p.m.
Saturday, January 25
USC Upstate at Coastal Carolina, 9 a.m.
1-Georgia State vs. Old Dominion, 9 a.m.
Cameron at UTA, 10 a.m.
2-South Alabama at Texas A&M, 10 a.m.
USC Upstate at Coastal Carolina, 1 p.m.
Prairie View A&M at UTA, 3 p.m.
Troy at Lipscomb, 5 p.m.
Sunday, January 26
3-Georgia Southern vs. The Citadel, 8 a.m.
1-Georgia State vs. Elon/North Carolina, 9 a.m./12:30 p.m.
2-South Alabama vs. Oregon/Georgia Tech, 10 a.m./1 p.m.
Georgia Southern at Clemson, Noon
Troy at Tennessee State, 2 p.m.
All Times are Central and Subject to Change
KEY:
1-ITA Kickoff Weekend, Chapel Hill, N.C.
2-ITA Kickoff Weekend, College Station, Texas
3-Clemson, S.C.