MAGNOLIA, Ark. – As the calendar turns to April, the regular season schedules for both the Southern Arkansas Men's & Women's Tennis teams begins to dwindle with the end-of-the-season conference matches looming large. The final nonconference matches of the season takes both of fourth-year head coach
Greg Owen's squads to Missouri for a trio of competitive matches beginning first with a Friday afternoon match against Southwest Baptist in Bolivar. On Saturday, both squads will match up against Washburn in Bolivar and will conclude the trip on Sunday with a contest against Drury in Springfield.
The Mulerider Men are 12-3 overall and 10-2 against DII opposition entering the weekend, have won two straight and seven of their past nine trips to the court. SAU currently ranks No. 15 in the country and is 5-2 against ranked DII opponents this season.
Four players hold national singles rankings led by
Marko Nikoliuk who checks into the ITA's latest rankings at No. 16 with a 15-5 record overall.
Sander Jans follows at No. 38 at 12-6 playing primarily out of the top spot of Owen's singles lineup.
Stuart Rehfuss, who operates at No. 2 for the Muleriders, ranks 51
st nationally with a 7-3 record this spring. At No. 75 is
Sofiane Bah who holds an 8-3 record overall.
Jans and Nikoliuk are 9-1 at the top doubles line for the Muleriders and have moved inside the top 10 nationally to hold the No. 8 ranking in Division II.
Ole Valkyser has won six of his past seven singles matches and
Yuri Gondouin has won four of his past five.
SAU holds a 4-0 record all-time against Southwest Baptist (6-8), but Friday's meeting will be the first against the Bearcats on the road. SAU topped then #19 SBU 5-2 on February 7 as part of a 5-0 start to the season for the Muleriders. The doubles team of Youssef Nabil and Alvaro Nunez ranks No. 23 in Division II.
The Muleriders will meet MIAA-GAC North Division foe #13 Washburn (13-2) for the fourth time with SAU holding a 2-1 lead in the young series. Tim Hammes is the highest ranked Ichabod holding the No. 35 spot with a 13-4 singles record this season. Raul Dicu ranks No. 55 at 7-6 overall. Matthew Earle and Sebastian Pjontek hold the No. 18 doubles rank nationally with a record of 10-4.
Sunday's matchup with Drury (4-5) will be the first meeting between the two programs. Marlon Wilken, the No. 65 ranked singles player in Division II, is 9-5 on the season.
The Southern Arkansas Women (2-10) will look to snap a five-game losing streak on Friday.
Lena Milosevic and
Simone Simas have won each of their last two doubles matches: victories over North Georgia and Georgia College. Simas has won two of her past three singles matches.
Greta Wallin and
Inna Serukhova team up in doubles action as do
Sarah Roy and
Kalley Smith with
Serena Gill primarily competing at No. 5 singles.
It will be the fourth meeting between the SAU and Southwest Baptist (5-7) and the first in Bolivar. SAU is 1-2 against the Bearcats. SBU is lead by Diana Cabrera who is 12-4 on the season and holds the No. 49 singles ranking in Division II, while also teaming up with Paula Ballesteros to form the No. 27 ranked doubles pair in the country.
Saturday's meeting with the Ichabods (7-8), who have won three straight, will be the third all-time and the Muleriders will be looking for their first win against Washburn. WU's doubles team of Kinsey Fields and Maja Jung ranks No. 39 in Division II at 8-3 on the season.
The SAU Women will also match up with #21 Drury (8-1) for the first time. Alma Abazi and Nastasia Jedrychowki are 6-1 on the season and ranked as the No. 43 doubles team in the nation.
