MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Southern Arkansas Men's Tennis, the No. 19 ranked team in Division II (a program-best nationally ranking) and the top rated team in the Central Region, begins its postseason run on Saturday as the calendar rolls to May with the opening round of the MIAA-GAC Championship in Edmond, Oklahoma. The four-team tournament features the Muleriders, regular season runner-up in the MIAA-GAC South Division and the No. 2 seed from the GAC, matching up with the MIAA-GAC North Division Regular Season Champion and MIAA No. 1 Washburn, who is ranked No. 20 nationally. The action kicks off at 10 a.m. Live scoring is available at
http://sidearmstats.com/uco/tennis/xlive.htm.
The Muleriders (12-4, 3-1 MIAA-GAC South) and Ichabods (10-3, 3-0 MIAA-GAC North) meet for the second time this season and for the third time since the spring of 2019. SAU won 4-3 in a neutral site match in Midlothian, Texas, on February 15, 2019 and
stopped WU 4-0 on the road on April 10.
In their most recent match, the Muleriders won the doubles point with wins by junior
Sander Jans and sophomore
Sofiane Bah at No. 1 and freshmen
Ole Valkyser and
Gabriel Breitenmoser at No. 3. SAU then rattled off singles wins by sophomore
Marko Nikoliuk at No. 3, Jans at No. 1 and Bah at No. 5. Two of the three unfinished matches were in a third set.
Southern Arkansas' journey to its first-ever MIAA-GAC Championship Tournament, albeit the first such tournament after last season's abrupt end, was a result of wins over Oklahoma Baptist (7-0), Ouachita (4-2) and Southeastern Oklahoma (4-3) with the latter ensuring the Muleriders a tournament spot after SAU fell to Harding, the GAC's No. 1 seed, 4-0 in Searcy. Earlier in the season, SAU topped the Bisons 6-1 in Arkadelphia on February 27.
Notable wins for the Ichabods include a 5-2 decision over #7 Drury on February 7 and a 6-1 win over #9 Flager on March 10. Washburn cruised through MIAA-GAC North Division play beating Newman and Emporia State 7-0 in back-to-back days, before edging No. 23 Northwest Missouri, the MIAA-GAC North Division No. 2, 4-3 in the regular season finale to lock up the division title and the top seed.
The Muleriders,
who saw all six singles players as well as their three doubles teams earn All-MIAA/GAC recognition, have been led by junior
Sander Jans at No. 1. Jans is ranked No. 34 nationally and along with Bah is also a part of the No. 21 ranked doubles team in the Division II. Washburn's Sebastian Pjontek and Bradley Eidenmueller are ranked No. 12 in the nation. SAU's pair topped the Ichabods top doubles team 6-2 in their most recent matchup. WU has two players ranked in the DII Top 40 with Raul Dicu holding the No. 24 ranking and Miquel Perez slotting in at No. 37 nationally. Jans topped Dicu 6-3, 6-3 and sophomore
Yuri Gondouin's match with Perez was left unfinished (6-1, 4-6, 0-2).
Saturday's winner advances to the tournament championship match to be played on Sunday, May 2 against the winner of Saturday's second semifinal: (S1) Harding and (N2) Northwest Missouri State. This season, SAU is a collective 3-1 against the other three teams in the inaugural MIAA-GAC Men's Tennis Championship.
