MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Through their first two individual tournaments of the 2019 season, the Southern Arkansas Men's and Women's Tennis teams have performed well under second year head coach Greg Owen and second year graduate assistant coach Ruben Vanoppen. The teams opened their seasons at the Tyler Invitational hosted by perennial east Texas tennis powers Texas-Tyler and Tyler Junior College and last week the squads competed in Oklahoma City at the OKC Collegiate Open Tournament.
 
Not much changed on the roster for the SAU Women as six of the seven players from last season return, while two newcomers in freshmen Kalley Smith and Giada Zorzan joined the fold this semester.
 
In their opening tournament of the season in Tyler, the team posted several impressive individual results. Five players finished in fifth place or better in their respective flights, which included a second place finish in Flight 2 by sophomore Lena Milosevic. In Flight 1, senior Joanna Nowakowska placed third in a highly competitive Flight 1 bracket. In doubles action, Milosevic and classmate Serena Gill finished second in Flight 2 as did Smith and Zorzan in Flight 4.
 
Last weekend in Oklahoma City, Nowakowska topped teammate Vargas (6-3, 6-3) in the finals of Flight 1, while Milosevic won Flight 2 (6-0, 6-0). Gill placed second (6-7, 1-6) in the Flight 3 competition and Smith won the fourth flight (7-5, 6-4). In doubles action, Milosevic and Gill topped teammates Nowakowska and Vargas to win Flight 1 (8-6). In doubles 2, Smith and Teixeira fell in the finals (8-3), and Zorzan advanced to the semifinals of the flight with Marialy Jimenez (Seward CCC) and the latter two nearly advanced to the finals falling to the eventual flight champion 9-8.
 
The SAU Men's roster includes elven players back from last season's historic team and a pair of newcomers in freshmen Sebastian Heredia and Gianfranco Germinara.
 
For the Southern Arkansas Men, their first competition since making a run to the NCAA DII National Championship Tournament in May was a successful one. Nine individuals placed fifth or better in flight competition which was highlighted by flight wins from sophomores Gustavo Kerber (Flight 8) and Raymond Marin (Flight) and third-place finishes from sophomore Yuri Gondouin (Flight 5) and newcomer Gianfranco Germinara (Flight 7). In the doubles competition, sophomores Marko Nikoliuk and Gondouin placed second in Flight 2, while Kerber and sophomore Alexandre Machaj were runner-up in Flight 3.
 
In Oklahoma City, Marin topped Iker Brull (6-1, 7-6) in the finals of Flight 4. To get to the finals, Brull defeated teammate Aleksandr Pokusaev in a tight match (6-1, 1-6, 10-7). Germinara won his Flight 3 back draw, while Machaj dropped a close match in the semifinals of Flight 2.
 
Doubles competition for the men saw Kerber and Germinara defeat Marin and Brull in the semifinals of Flight 2. It was nearly an All-SAU Flight 2 final as Machaj and sophomore Sofiane Bah lost in the semifinals to the eventual champions. In Flight 1, Nikoliuk and Rehfuss fell in the semifinals, while Pokusaev and Gondouin won the Flight 1 back draw.