GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University men's tennis team will begin the 2023-24 spring schedule this weekend when the Pioneers compete in two matches at the PTR Collegiate Cup.
The Pioneers take on Georgia College on Saturday afternoon, followed by an opponent to be determined on Sunday at the Saddlebrook Resort in Wesley Chapel, Florida.
First-year head coach Tim Dunford has a roster that includes seven returning players, a transfer and four freshmen to a squad that went 17-7 overall last season and 11-1 in the South Atlantic Conference.
Senior Nemanja Subanovic (Subotica, Serbia) is first-team preseason All-SAC in singles after being a two-time second-team All-Conference honoree. Subanovic finished 14-11 in singles last season and went 8-3 in conference matches, boosting his career singles record to 39-30 to go along with a career mark of 46-28 in doubles, where he has played at flight one for the last three seasons.
Senior Ivan Ivars (Alicante, Spain) is preseason second-team All-SAC in singles after going 10-7 overall last season and 8-3 in conference play. Ivars is in his third season at Tusculum and has a 14-9 record in singles and 4-7 in doubles in his Pioneer career.
Sophomore Will Gee (Faversham, England) is also preseason All-SAC second team after going 8-6 last season, with a 4-0 mark in conference action. Gee has a 7-2 record entering spring play for a career singles record of 15-8, along with a 14-2 record in doubles action.
Juniors Yuki Ikeda (Tokyo, Japan), Felipe Velasquez Quintana (Bogota, Colombia), Miles Ray (Cheltenham, England) and Nathan West (Farnsfield, England) all return for the Pioneers in 2024. Ikeda was 0-4 in singles last season but has a 4-4 mark so far this year, while Velasquez has a career 1-3 record in singles and 0-2 in doubles. Ray is 5-4 in doubles so far this season and 11-8 in his career to go along with a 10-10 singles record, and West is 1-0 in singles and 4-3 in doubles at Tusculum.
Sophomore Sarthak Sharma (Haryana, India) is a transfer from Spring Hill who made his collegiate debut in the fall and had a 3-1 record in singles and 4-2 in doubles.
Freshmen Anton Krondell (Helsingborg, Sweden) and Rens Verhaar (Amsterdam, Netherlands) both saw extensive time in the fall portion of the schedule, with Krondell going 5-4 in singles and 5-4 in doubles, and Verhaar compiling a 6-2 record in singles and 6-3 in doubles action. Freshman Tijn van Gorkom (Heemstede, Netherlands) joined the team at winter break, with fellow freshman JP Knell (Stevenage, England) rounding out the Pioneer roster.
Tusculum will play its home opener on Wednesday, Feb. 21 against North Georgia beginning at noon at the Nichols Tennis Complex.
