Men's Tennis | 1/11/2018 12:21:00 PM
POCATELLO, Idaho – The Idaho State men's tennis team was picked to finish sixth in the Big Sky Conference Preseason Coaches Poll released by league officials Thursday afternoon.
The squad returns three from last season's squad that advanced to the Big Sky Conference Championships for the first time since 2013. The Bengals finished the 2017 spring season with a 12-8 overall record with a 7-4 mark in conference play, good for fifth. The season ended with a 4-0 quarterfinal loss to No. 4 Montana.
The Bengals welcome five newcomers to the squad for the 2018 season:
Ryan Boddington,
David Felix,
Austin Gwilliam,
Adam Hornby and
Peter Trhac. All five gained valuable experience during the 2017 fall tournaments while Trhac and Felix made history for ISU doubles, advancing to the round of 16 at the 2017 Oracle ITA Fall Championships in ISU's first national tournament appearance since 1993.
Defending Big Sky Tournament champion Idaho earned the top spot for the second-straight year with 117 points and nine first-place votes while Northern Arizona claimed the second spot with 111 points and two first place votes. Sacramento State rounded out the top three with 98 points while Montana was close behind in fourth with 96 points and one first-place vote.
Weber State was picked fifth (73 points), Idaho State sixth (72 points), Montana State seventh (59 points) while Eastern Washington and Southern Utah tied for eighth (45 points). Portland State was predicted to finish 10th (31 points), Northern Colorado 11th (28 points) and North Dakota 12th (17 points).
| 2018 Men's Tennis Preseason Coaches Poll |
| 1 |
Idaho |
117 (9) |
| 2 |
Northern Arizona |
111 (2) |
| 3 |
Sacramento State |
98 |
| 4 |
Montana |
96 (1) |
| 5 |
Weber State |
73 |
| 6 |
Idaho State |
72 |
| 7 |
Montana State |
59 |
| T8 |
Eastern Washington |
45 |
| T8 |
Southern Utah |
45 |
| 10 |
Portland State |
31 |
| 11 |
Northern Colorado |
28 |
| 12 |
North Dakota |
17 |
Idaho State opens the 2017 spring season Saturday, Jan. 13 at Utah State in Logan, Utah. Doubles play is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. Fans can follow live stats by clicking
here.
