GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Tusculum University will begin preparation for defense of its South Atlantic Conference Men's Tennis tournament championship with four events this fall, starting this weekend at the Lincoln Memorial Invitational.
Tusculum earned its first SAC Tournament championship since 2008 and made its sixth appearance in the NCAA Division II Tournament in the spring. Following the season, head coach Adam Jackson departed for Division I Longwood University and two starters also left as Division I transfers.
First-year head coach Matt Frost comes to Tusculum needing to fill some gaps in the starting lineup, but believes that the fall will help get his returning players acclimated to new roles while bringing newcomers into the lineup.
"Many of the team did not get to compete as much as usual throughout the summer due to various COVID-19 restrictions across the world. Therefore, we are going to use the fall competition to get back our match intensity back," said Frost, who arrived at Tusculum this summer after serving as an assistant women's coach at the University of New Mexico. "We will look to our seniors to be role models, and look forward to representing Pioneer Nation and challenging for another championship this season."
Anchoring the Tusculum lineup this fall will be senior Frank Bonacia (Rome, Italy) and sophomore Nemanja Subanovic (Subotica, Serbia).
Bonacia was second-team All-SAC in both singles and doubles after compiling a 16-3 record in singles, including 10-1 in conference play, along with a 12-6 doubles record. Bonacia, who played mostly at flight three last spring, has a career record of 31-10 in singles at Tusculum and 18-15 in doubles play.
Subanovic was also second-team All-SAC in singles and doubles after playing primarily at flight two in singles. Subanovic was 11-8 in singles play and had a 13-7 doubles record in his freshman seasons, including a 7-3 record in doubles with Bonacia at flight one.
Senior Vadzim Raitsou (Mogilev, Belarus) saw little action during the spring until being pressed into action late in the campaign. Raitsou won his final six singles matches, including all three in the SAC Tournament to earn Most Valuable Player honors. Raitsou went 7-1 in singles last season and has a career 26-14 mark in singles play.
Other seniors on the roster include Kenta Kondou (Saitama, Japan), Jacco Mensinga (Roden, The Netherlands) and Max Stam (Cape Town, South Africa).
Kondou was 10-1 in singles and 8-6 in doubles in his first season with the Pioneers after transferring from Missouri Valley College. Kondou won his first seven singles matches while playing primarily at flight six.
Mensinga has been a doubles specialist during his career at Tusculum, going 26-20 in doubles play including an 8-6 mark last season at flight three. Stam has a 3-3 career singles record, including a win in conference play last spring against UVA Wise.
Sophomores Lluis Tomas (Barcelona, Spain) and Cole Hedden (Clinton, Tenn.) are back as well for the Pioneers. Tomas was 2-0 in singles for the Pioneers last spring, while Hedden had an 0-1 mark in his lone singles competition.
Just two freshmen are on the Tusculum fall roster, but Robin Eldin (Bois-le-Roi, France) and Nathan Matsuguma (Tokyo, Japan) are both highly-regarded prospects who are expected to immediately slot into the Pioneer lineup.
"My transition has been seamless. I have been fortunate in my career to have had mentors that have equipped me with all the necessary skills to lead a program," said Frost, who had previous coaching stops at Lenoir-Rhyne and his alma mater, Drake. "My coaching philosophies fit into Tusculum's mission as an institution and I am excited to see where we can take Tusculum tennis."
After the Lincoln Memorial Invitational, the Pioneers will travel to the annual ITA Southeast Regional tournament from Sept. 24-27 in Sumter, South Carolina. Scheduled to compete for the Pioneers are Bonacia, Eldin, Kontou and Subanovic in both singles and doubles, along with Raitsou in singles only.
Tusculum closes out the fall with competition in the Carson-Newman Eagle Invitational in Knoxville on Oct. 22-23, along with a dual match at North Greenville on Oct. 29.