Men's Tennis | 1/30/2013 2:07:00 PM
McPherson, Kan. – The men’s tennis team at McPherson College was named the 17th best squad in the 2013 NAIA Men’s Tennis Coaches’ Preseason Poll. This is the first time that McPherson College tennis has been ranked by the NAIA. MC was receiving votes in the final regular season poll of 2012.
Last season concluded with the Bulldogs placing second place in the KCAC regular season; a loss in the conference championship to Bethany closed out their year.
“I am happy that we have been recognized by the Coaches in the NAIA poll,” said MC tennis coach Jeff Benito. “We have a lot of work to do to see if we are truly deserving of that ranking, but I think our players are excited and up for that challenge. We have a very tough schedule this season especially when we go to California to face two Top 5 teams.”
The Bulldogs feature #43 ranked Rafael Bulnes and he’s followed up with a lot of depth coming from seniors Slav Bukatin, Torsten Keil-Long and Ronaldo Filho. Also returning for the Bulldogs is standout juniors Mark Mahan and Sean De Young. “We’ve added some new talent as well to bolster our line up with transfer Sean Dullaghan and freshman Adolfo Serafin. Sophomore Jordan Stewart has also come quite a way and I’m looking for him to be a bigger contributor this season.” All will be competing for starting positions but the goal is all the same…win our first KCAC title and make it to the National Tournament.
MC men’s tennis starts their season in Hobbs, New Mexico where they will participate in the New Mexico Kick-Off which is hosted by the University of Southwest and Arizona Christian University. The ‘Dogs will face the University of Texas-Permian Basin on February 1st at 4 p.m. Their first home match will be on February 28th when they square off against Barton County Community College at the McPherson High School courts.
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