GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University men's tennis team begins its 2023 spring schedule Wednesday afternoon against Lee University at the Nichols Tennis Complex.
The Pioneers will field a veteran squad for second-year head coach Matt Frost, with four starters returning in singles play along with the addition of grad transfer Rhodri Atkinson, a former South Atlantic Conference Player of the Year. A total of 11 players return from last year's team that finished 13-8 overall and 9-3 in the SAC, while ending the year ranked 31st in Division II by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.
Atkinson comes to Tusculum after compiling a 47-14 record in singles and a 53-13 mark in doubles in four seasons at Lenoir-Rhyne, where he was two-time first-team All-SAC in singles and in doubles. The Longhope, England native enters spring play with a 4-3 record in singles for the Pioneers and a 2-3 mark in doubles.
Grad student Frank Bonacia has been second-team All-SAC in singles each of the last two seasons, and is a two-time All-Conference selection in doubles. The Rome, Italy native is in his fourth season at Tusculum and has won 15 or more singles matches in each of his first three years, bringing a 50-22 career singles record and a 38-26 record in doubles play into the spring.
A third grad student, Kenta Kondou, is in his third season at Tusculum having earned third-team All-SAC honors in singles last season. Kondou was team MVP last year after going 21-6 in singles and 17-7 in doubles for the Pioneers. The native of Saitama, Japan is 34-11 in singles and 28-17 in doubles for the Pioneers.
Junior Nemanja Subanovic was second-team All-SAC in singles and doubles in 2021 and went 13-9 in singles a year ago. The Subotica, Serbia native is 28-19 in singles and 29-17 in doubles with the Pioneers. Fellow junior Ivan Ivars (Alicante, Spain) went 2-2 in singles for the Pioneers last season, and junior Lluis Tomas (Barcelona, Spain) is 2-6 in singles and 5-8 in doubles in his Tusculum career.
A deep group of sophomores is paced by Marco Jalalian (Hannover, Germany), who is preseason all-SAC in doubles after compiling a 6-4 record in singles and 4-3 in doubles last season. Jalalian is 9-5 overall in singles and 8-6 in doubles entering the spring season.
Sophomore Nathan Matsuguma (Tokyo, Japan) earned 11 victories in singles as a freshman and added four doubles wins, and brings a 14-13 career record in singles and 6-10 in doubles into the spring season. Sophomore Miles Ray (Cheltenham, England) had a 7-5 singles and 4-2 doubles record last season for the Pioneers.
Three more sophomores on the roster include Nathan West (Farnsfield, England), who won his only singles match last season and had a 4-3 record in doubles play, while Felipe Velaszquez Quintana (Bogota, Colombia) is 1-2 in singles at Tusculum. Yuki Ikeda (Tokyo, Japan) joined the Pioneer program in the fall and appeared in four singles and four doubles matches.
Freshman Will Gee (Faversham, England) is 4-1 in singles and 2-3 in doubles so far in his first season with the Pioneers.
Following the match with Lee on Wednesday, the Pioneers will play their next four on the road before returning home to face Bluefield State on Wednesday, Feb. 22. Conference play gets under on Thursday, Feb. 16 at Mars Hill and concludes with a visit to Catawba on Thursday, April 13.
