NORFOLK, Va. – The Old Dominion University men’s tennis team is now nationally ranked No. 68 after starting the season off with an 8-1 record, according to the most recent ITA Rankings released on Tuesday afternoon. The Tennis Monarchs are currently the highest ranked team from Conference USA and are set to host Florida Atlantic this Friday, March 6, at 5:30 p.m. at the Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center.
As a team, Old Dominion has beaten: Navy (6-1), UTSA (5-2), No. 75 Rice (4-2), No. 60 Elon (7-0), Richmond (6-1), East Carolina (5-2), Yale (6-1) and Binghamton (5-2). ODU’s only loss came on Friday in Ithaca, New York against No. 58 ranked Cornell by a score of 5-2. The Monarchs are 5-1 away from home and 3-0 when playing at the Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center.
Individually, senior No. 87 ranked Carlos Lopez Villa has led the way for Aljosa Piric’s Monarchs, starting the season out with a perfect 9-0 record. Only two of Carlos’ nine matches have actually gone to three sets. The Madrid, Spain-native is now 47-2 throughout the past two seasons.
Michael Weindl is one of many freshmen to get off to a blazing start, winning eight of his first nine matches. Prior to Friday’s match against Cornell, Weindl was riding a seven-match winning-streak.
Zvonimir Podvinski (Jr./Zagreb, Croatia) is also 8-1 in singles action, playing in the No. 6 slot.
Freshman Adam Moundir has received the nod to play No. 2 for the Tennis Monarchs and has compiled a 6-3 record in doing so.
Javier Jover Maestre had his six-match winning-streak snapped this past weekend, but is still 6-2 while playing in the No. 5 slot for Old Dominion.
Leading the way for ODU in doubles action has been Moundir and Weindl who have been victorious in six of their nine matches together.
Florida Atlantic will travel to the Howard on Thursday before arriving to the Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center for Friday’s showdown with Old Dominion at 5:30 p.m. The Owls enter this week with a 7-6 overall mark and are currently on a three-match winning streak. FAU’s last three wins have come against: Bethune Cookman (7-0), St. Thomas (7-0) and most recently Dequesne (6-1). Florida Atlantic’s last loss came on Feb. 20 at Florida State by a score of 4-0.
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