Jan. 18, 2012
ATLANTA, Ga. - Old Dominion University men's tennis begins its 2012 season this weekend as they head to Atlanta to take on Georgia Tech Friday and CAA foe Georgia State on Saturday.
"It's going to be a great measuring stick for our guys on a couple of fronts," Head coach Aljosa Piric said. "GT is one of the top teams in the nation and always well prepared and Georgia State is one of the best teams in the conference.
The Monarchs turn a new page this season as Piric is in his first season as head coach, coming to ODU from Georgia Tech, where he was an assistant coach for the past three seasons.
ODU loses its top two players from last season, including CAA Player of the Year in Tobias Fanselow, but return All-Conference selections in Krzysztof Muzalewski and Albert Ochagavia, as well as starters Fahoum Fahoum and Alfredo Rodriguez.
The Monarchs also added Elon transfer Wesley Barrett and freshmen Carlos Lopez Villa and Can Cetinel.
With the returns of Muzalewski and Ochagavia, ODU brings back 45 singles wins between the two, as the pair will lead a young crop, as Muzalewski is the lone senior.
"We've been talking about toughness, basic percentage tennis and doing things the right way," Piric said. "The guys have really practiced hard, their minds are at the right place, I think we're ready to go and compete."
Georgia Tech is ranked No. 15 in the preseason poll, led 2011 ITA Coach of the Year, Kenny Thorne. The doubles team of Kevin King and Juan Spir the No. 2 doubles team in the country in Kevin King and Juan Spir. King is ranked No. 9 in the country in singles.
Georgia State finished with an overall record of 21-6 last season.
The Panthers return two 20-win players from a year ago, in junior Lucas Santana (21-5) and fellow junior Victor Valente (20-5).
ODU returns to Norfolk to host the home opener next Friday, Jan. 27 against George Washington.