MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The seventh-seeded Montevallo men's tennis team is set to take on No. 2 seed West Florida in the first round of the 2023 Gulf South Conference Tennis Championships on Thursday, April 20.
The Falcons enter the tournament with an 8-9 overall record and a 3-6 record in conference play. Montevallo struggled through the first half of the season carrying a 2-7 record into spring break. On a six-match nonconference road trip over the break, UM went on to take six-consecutive match victories while giving up just six team points in that span. Montevallo finished off the season with a pair of GSC contests against No. 23 Auburn Montgomery (Loss, 4-2) and Lee (Loss, 4-0).
In Montevallo's singles matches, freshman
Fabricio Sosa holds the team's top individual record with an 8-7 mark over the season. Another freshman,
Paul Sobich, also owns eight individual victories on the season with an 8-8 mark throughout the season. Montevallo's top singles player
Philippe Zehender has struggled a bit this season but, despite that, the senior holds a 5-8 record overall with a 2-4 mark in GSC play.
Zehender and Sosa have been dominant in the combined matches with an 8-3 record through the 2023 campaign for the top mark on the squad.
Dylan Kamel and Sobich are the only other duo on Montevallo's team with a record above .500 after posting an 8-6 record in the regular season. Sosa also holds the team's top doubles record with a 9-5 mark while Zehender's 9-7 mark ranks second among the Falcons.
Montevallo draws the seventh seed for the tournament and are set to take second-seeded West Florida at 2:30 p.m. on April 20 at the O'Connor Tennis Center in Montgomery, Ala. The Argonauts have accumulated a 14-3 overall record while posting a 7-2 GSC record. UWF will look to defend its 2022 GSC Men's Tennis Championship after taking the tournament last season with a victory over Valdosta State in the final round.
"The guys play West Florida first round, and we played them in the earlier part of the season," said Head Coach
Tanner Stancil. "Our guys have grown a lot since then, and we've played our best tennis in the latter half of the season. Our guys must come out with belief that they can win, and really stay focused the whole match. If we can do that, then I know we will have a chance."
Montevallo will face off against West Florida at 2:30 p.m. on April 20 at the O'Connor Tennis Center in Montgomery, Ala.
