SAN ANTONIO (Jan. 19, 2024) – The Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU) men's tennis program surges into its 16th spring season starting on Jan. 26. Dave Watts is back for his second season at the helm after leading the team to a Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) Tournament Championship appearance. 

National ranking

The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) released the NAIA Men's Preseason Top 25 Coaches' Poll sponsored by Tennis-Point earlier this month. The men ranked No. 20. According to the ITA website, this is the first time NAIA teams have been ranked by the association. On Aug. 23, 2023, the team received an NAIA Men's Tennis Coaches' Preseason Top 25 ranking of No. 20.

2022-2023 season recap 

The Saints gathered 14 victories last season, which included a seven-match winning streak and a berth in the RRAC Tournament Championship. In March, the Saints faced the No. 1-ranked team in the nation, Georgia Gwinnett College, and defeated NCAA D2 Western New Mexico University 4-0 in April. Following the regular season schedule, the Saints beat Texas A&M University-Texarkana in the RRAC Tournament semifinals on April 21. They lost by only one match, 4-3, against Xavier University of Louisiana in the tournament championship. 

Returners 

The Saints have five experienced returners who will guide the squad and newcomers throughout the year. They include seniors Michael Canales, Malachi Farley, Johan Favelin and Guido Picasso, plus junior Kyllian Savary. Savary played most of last season on the first line for singles and doubles. The France native shined in singles with a 16-3 mark and succeeded in doubles play at 13-6. He is ranked No. 1 in the central region of ITA, and No. 8 in the national poll. Favelin is ranked No. 8 in the central region and No. 36 in the nation. Picasso is ranked No. 6 in the doubles section of the central region along with newcomer Jaroslav Majsajdr after a successful fall 2023 season. 

Senior Enzo Frequelin, a native of France, finished out his collegiate tennis career in Dec. 2023. He received his Bachelor of Business Administration in Management and Finance. 

Newcomers

The team welcomes freshmen Joshua Alarcon from San Antonio Antonian High School, Joao Castro from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Paulo Ceolin from Palotina, Brazil, and Caleb Olen from O'Connor High School in Helotes. Sophomore transfer is Jaroslav Majsajdr from the Zelezny, Czech Republic. 

Spring additions are freshmen David Ekpenyong from Akwa Ibom, Nigeria, and Thompson Thomu from Masvingo, Zimbabwe. Also starting this spring are sophomore David Daniel from San Antonio Reagan High School and junior Luis Hernandez from Eagle Pass, where he attended Eagle Pass High School. 

Schedule

The Saints play home tennis matches at the Blossom Tennis Center. The men start the spring season by hosting Jacksonville College on Jan. 26. They play at NCAA D1 University of the Incarnate Word on Feb. 2 and at Schreiner University on Feb. 3. On Feb. 10, the Saints will host NCAA D2 the University of Texas Permian Basin and then will head out to the Georgia Gwinnett Tournament starting on Feb. 15. The team will battle the Cumberlands on Feb. 15, Union on Feb. 16 and Savannah College of Art and Design on Feb. 17, and Lindsey Wilson University on Feb. 18 in Lawrenceville, Ga.

The team will return home for matches against Texas Lutheran University on Feb. 23, NCAA D1 University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley on Feb. 24, NJCAA Collin College on Feb. 25. They will head out to Georgetown, Texas, for a match against Texas Wesleyan University on Feb. 28. The Saints will return home for seven straight home matches from March 2-15 against NCAA D2 St. Mary's University, University of St. Mary, NJCAA Weatherford College, Friends University, Bethel College, Lewis and Clark University and Missouri Baptist University. After matches against NCAA D3 Trinity University on March 23 and NCAA D2 Dallas Baptist University on March 29, the Saints will travel to Alexandria, La., for matches against Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA) and Texas A&M University-Texarkana (TAMUT) from April 4-9. The regular season will conclude with a match against NCAA D3 Southwestern University at home on April 12.

The RRAC Championship tournament will take place April 18-21, host by XULA in New Orleans. 

Fan expectations 

Saints fans are encouraged to support the team at the Blossom Tennis Center this season. Watts said, "Blossom Tennis Center is a great place to watch tennis, and there will be exciting matches this year. We play high-level tennis and would love everybody to come out. We play Friday evening matches, and those have great energy."

Hear from Head Coach Dave Watts