Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Recruiting Class Ranked #2 Among Mid-Majors
6/15/2021 10:03:00 AM | Men's Tennis
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Middle Tennessee men's tennis program's incoming recruiting class has been named the #2 class among mid-majors in the nation, according to tennisrecruting.net. Overall, it is the #33 recruiting class in the country.
The class of 2021 includes Oskar Poulsen (Denmark), John Chin (Miami Lakes, Fla.), Lucas Oliver (France), and Mattia Bernardi (Italy). The class also includes Stepan Holis, a transfer from New Mexico, although he is not included when computing the rankings. The Blue Raiders are just behind San Diego in the mid-major rankings and ahead of schools such as Pepperdine, Loyola Marymount, and Tulane.
"Coach [Caligiana] did an exceptional job with this class. Lot of credit goes to him for this great class," said head coach Jimmy Borendame. "We know they are all going to be good players otherwise we would not have recruited them so hard. However, the real ranking should be done when they graduate. Has this group made the program better then when they got here?"
All four incoming freshman have Universal Tennis Rankings (UTR) of 11.49 or higher, with Olivier leading the pack with a UTR of 12.36, which is 180th in the world for players age 18 and under.
This year's great class was the result of a lot of hard work by the coaching staff in a year that was unlike any other.
"This one was definitely a weird year for recruiting," said assistant coach Andrea Caligiana. "We were not able to travel and meet recruits because of COVID and so it was really challenging for us to evaluate them, especially when you look for good kids with not only a high tennis level, but also a good attitude and good grades. It is really important to personally meet them and see how they are not only on the court but also off the court. Coach [Borendame] and I spent a lot of hours watching tennis videos and doing Zoom calls, and we could not be more confident in the guys we signed."
The Blue Raiders will look to this strong recruiting class to help continue the strong tradition of the program as they work toward their third straight Conference USA title in 2022.
