MAGNOLIA, Ark. – For the third time in the program's young NCAA history (2018-19), the Mulerider Men's Tennis team is set for action on the national stage as Round of 16 play begins for sixth-year head coach
Greg Owen's squad in Orlando. The Muleriders (14-7), ranked No. 33 in DII with the twelfth seed in the national tournament, match up with Indianapolis (18-4), the nation's No. 8 ranked team and the tournament's fifth seed, on Tuesday, May 21 at 7 a.m. (CST) from Altamonte Springs' Sanlando Park in Central Florida. Live scoring of the Round of 16 tilt can be accessed here:
https://www.statbroadcast.com/events/schedule.php?live=1&gid=roll.
Southern Arkansas enters having won their previous three matches, all against MIAA-GAC foes, including
a 4-3 regional victory over Ouachita to punch its ticket to the Sunshine State. Indianapolis enters the national tourney winners of their past dozen matches which followed a three-match losing streak. The Greyhounds won the GLVC title and a regional title along with spending time as the nation's top rated team in the ITA DII rankings.
Nationally-Ranked Muleriders
#39
Ole Valkyser
#43
Tim Fischer
Frode Neumann – ITA Central Region Rookie of the Year
The doubles teams of
Ole Valkyser/
Matthew Tennant and
Tim Fischer/
Pierre Copin have each won nine doubles matches this season. Valkyser's ten doubles wins overall lead the team. In singles play, Valkyser leads with 14 victories, seven each from lines one and two, while Neumann follows with a dozen in his collegiate rookie season. Both Fischer and
Lluc Pasqual have recorded 11 singles victories and
Mathys Pinoit has added ten with none bigger than his last one which saw him rally to clinch the national berth for the Muleriders.
Valkyser and Tennant are the lone Muleriders with national tournament experience having played in SAU's second trip to Orlando in 2022.
Nationally-Ranked Greyhounds
#1 Tom Zeuch – ITA Midwest Region Senior Player of the Year
#54 Louis Picaud
#2 Mathieu Derache / Tom Zeuch
#31 Erwan Momo Andre / Louis Picaud
Malik Tabet – ITA Midwest Region Coach of the Year
Carlos Thireau-Cuco – ITA Midwest Region Assistant Coach of the Year
Manuel Lanteri – ITA Midwest Region Rookie of the Year
Zeuch highlights a UIndy squad that boasts a trio of players with 15 or more singles victories this season. The nation's top Division II player, Zeuch owns a 25-3 singles record with 17 of those coming this spring and he has won seven straight matches. Derache has won 16 times this season in singles play with ten of those decisions taking place in 2024 including seven straight. Erwan Momo Andre has won 14 times since January and enters on a team-best eight-match win streak. Zeuch and Derache are 17-1 in doubles play in 2023-24 with 11 consecutive victories heading into the national tournament. Picaud and Momo Andre join the nation's No. 2 ranked pair with 17 victories in doubles play as well.
The meeting is the first all-time between the programs who share common regular season opponents in Washburn and Southwest Baptist. The Greyhounds knocked off the Ichabods 4-3 at home on February 9 before dismissing the Bearcats 4-0in the semifinal round of the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Tournament. Southern Arkansas beat WU 4-3 in Edmond on April 21 two and a half months after dispatching SBU 6-1 in Arkadelphia on February 5.
The winner of Tuesday morning's matchup advances to the national quarterfinals on Wednesday and will face the winner of (4) #6 Columbus State and (13) #30 Texas-Permian Basin at 9 a.m.
SAU Men's Tennis in the National Round of 16
2021 | Altamonte Springs, Florida (Sanlando Park)
L, 1-4 vs. (5) #5 Embry-Riddle
2019 | Altamonte Springs, Florida (Sanlando Park)
L, 0-4 vs. (1) Barry
