2018 Conference Carolinas Men's Tennis Preview and Players to Watch
HIGH POINT, N.C. – The 2018 Conference Carolinas Men's Tennis preseason poll has been released. Belmont Abbey College will enter the season as the favorite to win the Conference Carolinas Men's Tennis Championship, according to Conference Carolinas coaches.
1. Belmont Abbey College: The Crusaders enter 2018 with five first-place votes and 84 total points from Conference coaches. Belmont Abbey finished 2017 21-13 overall and 9-1 in Conference play for a share of the regular season title.
The Crusaders would finish runner-up in the Conference Carolinas Men's Tennis Championship last year. All-Conference Carolinas selection George Barfoot and All-Tournament pick Zachary Blythe will be the catalyst for Belmont Abbey as they make another run at a Conference Carolinas title in 2018.
Players to Watch:
- *George Barfoot (So.)
- Zachary Blythe (So.)
- James Delaney (Sr.)
2. University of Mount Olive: The Trojans nabbed 79 points and three first-place votes to enter 2018 ranked second. Mount Olive won a share of the regular season crown last year with a 9-1 record, while going 14-4 overall.
All-Conference Carolinas selections Martin Moser and Jose Cortijos Planas will be back to lead the Trojans in 2018.
Players to Watch:
- *Martin Moser (Jr.)
- *Jose Cortijos Planas (Jr.)
3. Limestone College: The Saints enter this season ranked third with 69 points. Limestone ended last season 11-8 overall and 9-1 in Conference play, which earned them a share of the regular season title.
Players to Watch:
- Enrique Moreno (Jr.)
- Guillermo Ortega (Jr.)
- Luka Stanec (Sr.)
4. Barton College: The Bulldogs are narrowly ranked fourth with 68 points, but did collect two first-place votes from coaches. Barton finished last season 15-9 overall and and 7-3 in Conference play.
Barton, who earned a bid to the 2017 NCAA Division II Men's Tennis Championship, captured the Conference Carolinas Men's Tennis Championship last season and will look to repeat in 2018.
Players to Watch:
- Ermanno Galimberti (So.)
- Rory Gaydon (So.)
- Jesus Gil (Jr.)
5. Chowan University: The Hawks earned 58 points from coaches and are preseason fifth to start 2018. Chowan went 16-8 overall in 2017 and made an appearance in the NCAA Division II Men's Tennis Championship.
2018 will be Chowan's first year in Conference Carolinas.
Players to Watch:
6. King University: The Tornado tallied 52 points for sixth-place to open the year. King went 7-11 overall in 2017 and 5-5 in league play.
The Tornado return All-Conference Carolinas doubles selection Lennard Neumann for his sophomore season.
Players to Watch:
- Alejandro Feliciano (Jr.)
- Lenny Keswani (Sr.)
- *Lennard Neumann (So.)
7. North Greenville University: The Crusaders enter 2018 in seventh with 47 points. NGU turned in a 7-14 overall record and 4-6 Conference Carolinas mark in 2017.
Players to Watch: N/A
8. Southern Wesleyan University: The Warriors collected 37 points and enter the season ranked eighth. SWU finished 8-11 overall and 4-5 in league play a season ago.
Players to Watch:
- Stan Grzeslo (Jr.)
- Siggy Menzel (Sr.)
- Urs Widow (Jr.)
9. Erskine College: Erskine tallied 26 points from Conference coaches to enter the season ranked ninth. The Fleet went 2-18 overall in 2017, which included a 2-8 Conference record.
Players to Watch:
- Ritwik Bhriguvanshi (Jr.)
- Ary Boltansky (Fr.)
- Ross Edgar (So.)
10. Lees-McRae College: The Bobcats round out the preseason poll in 10th with 20 points. Lees-McRae went 0-10 in Conference Carolinas play and 1-16 overall in 2017.
Players to Watch:
- Matthew Meluch (Fr.)
- Gabriel Muniz (Sr.)
*denotes 2017 All-Conference Carolinas selection
2018 Men's Tennis Preseason Poll
| School (first-place votes) |
Total |
| 1. Belmont Abbey (5) |
84 |
| 2. Mount Olive (3) |
79 |
| 3. Limestone |
69 |
| 4. Barton (2) |
68 |
| 5. Chowan |
58 |
| 6. King |
52 |
| 7. North Greenville |
47 |
| 8. Southern Wesleyan |
37 |
| 9. Erskine |
26 |
| 10. Lees-McRae |
20 |
Conference Carolinas is a NCAA Division II athletics conference made up of 11 teams from Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. These institutions consist of: Barton College, Belmont Abbey, Converse College, Emmanuel College, Erskine College, King University, Lees-McRae College, Limestone College, University of Mount Olive, North Greenville University, and Southern Wesleyan. Emmanuel College is currently completing the NCAA Membership Process and will be fully competing in league championships in the near future.