2017 SLIAC Men's Tennis Tournament Preview
The Tournament
The 2017 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament is scheduled for this weekend at Dwight Davis Tennis Center at Forest Park in St. Louis, Mo. The two-day tournament will include Fontbonne University, Greenville College, Principia College, Webster University, and Westminster College. In the case of rain, the tournament is set for King's Point in Belleville, Ill.
The tournament schedule begins on Friday with four matches. Match 1 will feature #4 seed Webster University against #5 seed Fontbonne University. Match 2 will pit #2 seed Greenville College against #3 seed Westminster College. Both matches will begin at 11 a.m. The day's second pair of matches will start at 2 p.m. and include top seed Principia College against the winner of match 1 as well as the loser of match 1 against the loser of match 2 in the fifth place match. Saturday's action will include the third-place match and championship match with both taking place at 11 a.m.
Principia has won three straight tournaments and 14 overall in program history. Westminster College is the only other SLIAC program to win the tournament title, doing so 12 times including in 2013, the last time.
|
FONTBONNE UNIVERSITY 'GRIFFINS' Fontbonne was was 0-14 during the regular season with their closest SLIAC match coming against their first-round opponent, Webster, in a 7-2 loss. The Griffins top player, Sebastian Culton, notched four of the team's six singles wins this season with Blake Wisniewski and Zac Ridenhour recording the others. In doubles play the duo of Culton and Wisniewski tallied a team-best two wins. |
|
GREENVILLE COLLEGE 'PANTHERS' Greenville was 11-6 overall this season, going 3-1 in SLIAC play, and have won four straight matches. Jeremiah Brannon won his first three conference matches this season, playing mainly at #6 singles. Austin Burkhart and Justin Tilford have each added five wins while Nate Wieland holds down the team's top singles spot. The doubles teams of Tilford and Wieland and Burkhart and Blake Gocey give the Panthers depth. |
|
PRINCIPIA COLLEGE 'PANTHERS' Principia went undefeated in conference action this spring and 7-7 overall. The Panthers only dropped four points in their four conference matches, blanking both Fontbonne and Webster. Jules Kitchingman has split time at the top of the roster, totaling nine wins this year. Greg Sovie has done the same, seeing time at both #1 and #2 singles, accumulating eight wins. The Panthers doubles team of Kenworthy and Kitchingman rolled through conference play undefeated while Sovie and Brody Swan notched six doubles wins this season. |
|
WEBSTER UNIVERSITY 'GORLOKS' Webster was 2-5 overall this year and 1-3 in the SLIAC. Eric Bateman led the Gorloks with six singles wins this season while Nicholas Andrade and Trent Purnell each had a winning record. Bateman and Chris Morris were the lone doubles combination for the Gorloks to hold a winning record, going 3-2. The teams of Carlos Gonzalez and Purnell and Charles McGee and Ray Robson each added a pair of wins for Webster. |
|
WESTMINSTER COLLEGE 'BLUE JAYS' The Blue Jays went 3-6 overall and 2-2 in the SLIAC. They have been led by Pete Hasenmueller this spring, who recorded seven wins during singles play. Grant Peterson was second on the team with four wins. In doubles action, Hasenmueller and Reese Hicks teamed up for four wins while Adam Fuchs and Scott Strough and Brendan Boswell and Grant Peterson each added two wins. |
