Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Middle Tennessee
Chattanooga
Men's Tennis Opens Season at Home
1/27/2006 2:09:00 PM | Men's Tennis
The Blue Raiders, led by 19th-year head coach Dale Short, take on Chattanooga at Noon and Belmont at 6:30 p.m. Saturday. Middle Tennessee is 20-5 the last five years at the Racquet Club of Murfreesboro, including 6-0 last season.
Seniors Brandon Allan, Greg Pollack and Rishan Kuruppu led a very experienced lineup, which also features juniors Andreas Siljestrom, Marco Born and Kai Schledorn. Sophomore Marc Boiron as well as freshmen Joao Paoliello and Morgan Richard will also challenge for playing time, but the bulk of the matches will be played by the veterans, an asset to Short as the club embarks on a schedule where Saturday's opponents may be the only ones not ranked all season.
"I'm approaching this a little different than last year because our guys know what it takes a little more than they did a year ago," Short said. "I don't think there will be as much teaching except with the new players and not as much reminding them. They tasted a little success last year but also a little bit of the downside with the unfortunate events with Kai. They're hungry and eager to prove they're probably better than No. 34.
"We also have some guys who didn't play very well and are ready to turn the corner. The new guys are pushing them because Brandon and Rishan have played much better, especially Rishan. That's good for our team now and in the future."
Siiljestrom has been hobbled by an ankle injury and likely will not play Saturday. He returned to practice for the first time this spring on Tuesday.
"With Andreas not playing, it really changes the dynamics of our team," Short said. "He'll be fine as he works into match shape, which is big for us because this is really the first year I feel like all the pieces of the puzzle are in place since probably 1997 for us to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament. It comes down to coaching, working on the technical things, keeping the guys motivated and keeping the chemistry together as the season progresses."
The six upperclassmen have combined to play 231 dual singles and 239 dual doubles matches, helping the Blue Raiders to their seventh NCAA Tournament appearance last season. Siljestrom is ranked 48th in singles and Born 97th heading into this weekend's action. The duo is also the third-ranked doubles team in the nation after winning the Polo Ralph Lauren ITA All-American Championships in October and reaching the finals of the ITA National Intercollegiate Championships in November.
Middle Tennessee defeated Chattanooga and Belmont, 7-0, on January 29 of last year to open the season, propelling the squad to an 18-win season, the most since 18 in 2000 and since back-to-back 24-victory campaigns in 1996-97. Allan says this year's schedule looks to be more difficult than in years past, but the squad is really trying to take the same approach as last season and just get off to a good start.
"It really is a tough schedule, definitely tougher than the three years before," Allan said. "These matches this weekend will certainly get us ready for the rest of the schedule. You can't take anyone for granted because these teams will definitely bring their 'A' game and try and knock us off.
The Knoxville, Tenn., native says this year's experience is a big plus, but he and his teammates don't want to set the bar of expectations too high heading into the year.
"We don't want to set the expectations too high because a lot of times the only place you can go is down," he said. "We feel like we have a good team, a team capable of winning the Sun Belt again and moving into the Top 20 and maybe the Top 10. We just want to look at it like last season, get off to a good start and take it one match at a time."
Allan and Schledorn will also start the spring unranked in doubles, the first time the duo has not appeared in the rankings since the end of the 2004 season. The pairing has been ranked in 16 of the last 21 rankings by the ITA dating to the preseason poll in the fall of 2003.
"That's certainly a motivational factor for us because we know if we're playing our best, we should be in there and probably as high as we were in the fall at No. 8," Allan said. "But seeing Marco and Andreas and the success they're having is also a big motivation for us as well."
Middle Tennessee plays at Virginia Tech on February 4 before returning home February 11 to face Indiana at the Racquet Club.
Players Mentioned
