SLIAC Men's Tennis Tournament Preview

SLIAC Men's Tennis Tournament Preview

This week's SLIAC Game of the Week is the 2015 SLIAC Men's Tennis Tournament. This weekend five teams will compete for the title at Dwight Davis Tennis Center in St. Louis, Mo.

At a Glance
The 2015 SLIAC Men's Tennis Tournament will take place April 24-25 in St. Louis, Mo. at the Dwight Davis Tennis Center in Forest Park. The tournament will feature a head to head style match-up with four matches scheduled for Friday and two more on Saturday. The tournament is a double elimination format.

Tournament Schedule
Friday, April 24 - 11:00 a.m.
Match 1: #4- Webster vs. #5- Fontbonne
Match 2: #2- Greenville vs. #3- Westminster
Friday, April 24 - 2 p.m.
Match 3: #1- Principia vs. Winner of Match 1
Match 4: Loser of Match 2 vs. Loser of Match 1 (Fifth Place Match)
Saturday, April 25 - 11 a.m.
Match 5: Loser of Match 2 vs. Loser of Match 3 (Third Place Match)
Match 6: Winner of Match 2 vs. Winner of Match 3 (Championship Match)

Fontbonne University
Fontbonne went 1-16 this season with their lone win coming against Illinois College on April 11 with a 7-2 dual match victory. Blake Wisniewski paced the Griffins with a win at #1 singles and #1 doubles while Khoa Trieu added a win at #2 singles. Wisniewski led the team with four singles wins this season while the doubles team of Wisniewski and Austin Sides picked up three wins to pace the team.
Greenville College
Greenville went 12-5 during the season, finishing 3-1 in the SLIAC. The Panthers had four players record double digit wins this season with Justin McDonald, Code Power, and Nate Wieland each recording 14 wins and Demetrius Bush adding 11 wins. The Panthers recorded a conference best 70 wins in singles play this year. In doubles action the Panthers were 35-16 with the team of McDonald and Power pacing the team with 13 wins. Bush and Wieland added 12 wins this year as the #2 team.

Principia College
Principia went 8-9 overall this season and were undefeated in SLIAC action with a 3-0 mark. The Panthers notched 52 wins in singles play this year, finishing with a .423 win percentage. They were led by Nate Waters' 13 wins while Joey Sander also reached double digits with 10 wins. The Panthers doubles team of Sander and Waters led the way with 11 wins including a current six match winning streak. The team of Daniel Drake and Jason Wissman added eight wins as the #2 team. The Panthers in fact finished above .500 in doubles play during dual matches.

Webster University
Webster went 4-6 overall this year and finished 1-3 in the SLIAC. The Gorloks had three players finish with a winning record in singles play this season. Travis Blair leads the team with six wins while Carlton Poindexter picked up five wins and Eric Bateman notched three wins. The doubles team of Blair and Trent Purnell led the team with three wins, splitting between the #2 and #3 spot. Carlton Poindexter notched five wins in doubles, teaming with three different partners during the year.
Westminster College
Westminster starts the tournament with a 3-8 overall record after going 2-2 in SLIAC play. The Blue Jays come in hot, having won their last two matches. Scott Strough led the team with six singles wins this season while Kyle Collins added five wins. Scott Strough finished with the most doubles wins, four, splitting time playing with Adam Fuchs and Kyle Collins.

Game Notes:

  • Principia and Westminster have each won a SLIAC record 12 men's titles.
  • Principia defeated Westminster 5-1 in the championship match last year.
  • Greenville took third place last year with a 5-0 win over Webster.
  • Principia's Jason Wissman is looking to become the just the second three time SLIAC Player of the Year, joining Michael LeVan of (2004-06), after winning the award each of the last two years.