2019 Conference Carolinas Men's Tennis Preview and Players to Watch
HIGH POINT, N.C. – The 2019 Conference Carolinas Men's Tennis preseason poll has been released. University of Mount Olive will enter the season as the favorite to win the Conference Carolinas Men's Tennis Championship, according to Conference Carolinas coaches.
1. University of Mount Olive: The Trojans enter 2019 with six first-place votes and 86 total points from Conference coaches. Mount Olive finished 2018 with an overall record of 13-7 overall and 8-2 in Conference play.
The Trojans return the reigning Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year in Armando Ferreira. Ferreira along with all-conference returners Jack Middleton and Martin Moser give UMO arguably the best chance to capture the Conference Carolinas title in 2019.
Players to Watch:
- *Armando Ferreira (So.)
- *Martin Moser (Sr.)
2. Belmont Abbey College: The Crusaders nabbed 77 points and two first-place votes to enter 2019 ranked second. Belmont Abbey posted a 7-3 Conference record, while going 16-21 overall.
Players to Watch:
- *George Barfoot (Jr.)
- *Zachary Blythe (Jr.)
- Kent Shiell (Fr.)
3. Limestone College: The Saints enter this season ranked third with 74 points and two first-place votes from Conference coaches.
Limestone ended last season 14-7 overall and 10-0 in league play, which earned them an outright Conference Carolinas regular season title.
Players to Watch:
- Marcel Agbegne (Fr.)
- *Federico Garnier (Jr.)
- Emilio Samhan (So.)
4. Chowan University: The Hawks are ranked fourth with 60 points from Conference coaches.
Chowan finished last season 15-8 overall and 8-2 in Conference play. The Hawks' late season play would earn them a Conference Carolinas Men's Tennis Championship title, which booked them a trip to the 2018 NCAA Division II Men's Tennis Championship.
Players to Watch:
- *Adi Kaliakperov (Sr.)
- Louis Proulx (Sr.)
- Mariano Yeh (Sr.)
5. Barton College: The Bulldogs earned 56 points from Conference coaches and are preseason fifth to start 2019. Barton went 7-13 overall and 4-6 in league play in 2018.
Players to Watch:
- *Diego Agudelo (So.)
- Alessandro Gerbino (So.)
6. Emmanuel College: The Lions tallied 52 points to debut in the preseason poll in sixth-place. Emmanuel went 14-16 overall in 2018 and 4-6 in league play.
Players to Watch:
7. King University: The Tornado collected 40 points and enter the season ranked seventh. King finished 6-13 overall and 5-5 in league play a season ago.
Players to Watch:
- Arturo Alfaro (Jr.)
- *Alejandro Feliciano (Sr.)
- *Lennard Neumann (Sr.)
8. North Greenville University: The Crusaders enter 2019 in eight-place with 39 points. North Greenville turned in an 8-11 overall record and 6-4 Conference Carolinas mark in 2018.
Players to Watch:
- *Pierre-Olivier Bedard (Jr.)
- Yannis Moulod (So.)
9. Southern Wesleyan University: The Warriors tallied 36 points from Conference coaches to enter the season ranked ninth. Southern Wesleyan went 6-15 overall in 2018, which included a 2-8 Conference record.
Players to Watch:
- Peter Kovats (Jr.)
- Leonard Sanders (Fr.)
10. Lees-McRae College: The Bobcats round out the preseason poll in 10th with 16 points. Lees-McRae went 1-15 overall and 0-10 in Conference play in 2018.
Players to Watch:
- James Kirkham (Fr.)
- Matt Meluch (So.)
- Miodrag Popovic (Fr.)
*denotes 2018 All-Conference Carolinas selection
2019 Men's Tennis Preseason Poll
| School (first-place votes) |
Total |
| 1. Mount Olive (6) |
86 |
| 2. Belmont Abbey (2) |
77 |
| 3. Limestone (2) |
74 |
| 4. Chowan |
60 |
| 5. Barton |
56 |
| 6. Emmanuel |
52 |
| 7. King |
40 |
| 8. North Greenville |
39 |
| 9. Southern Wesleyan |
36 |
| 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 University.