EVANSVILLE, Ind. - The Belmont University men's tennis team begins their quest for an Ohio Valley Conference championship on Saturday, facing No. 2 seed Jacksonville State at 10 a.m. at the Wesselman Tennis Center.
Belmont is looking for its first OVC championship since joining the conference in 2013 and its first conference championship since 2006.
The OVC recently honored the Bruins with postseason awards, with senior Marko Ilic earning the 2021 Ohio Valley Conference Men's Tennis Player of the Year and All-OVC First Team honors while junior Arthur Toledo and freshman Tomas Luis earned All-OVC Second Team honors. With Ilic's Player of the Year award, Belmont has now claimed the OVC Player of the Year award in three consecutive seasons. The Zagreb, Croatia native has now earned All-OVC First Team honors three times in his career.
Toledo finished the 2021 regular season with a 12-2 record in singles play and an 8-4 record in doubles play. The Belo Horizonte, Brazil earned OVC Player of the Week honors on Feb. 3, beginning a streak of five of the first six weekly selections being Belmont student-athletes.
Luis finished the 2021 regular season with a 10-5 record in singles play, being one of only two freshmen on the team to record double-digit singles wins. The Tavira, Portugal native went 9-2 in doubles play with freshman Diego Castro and earned OVC Player of the Week honors on March 17.
The Bruins will get a rematch of the regular season finale in Saturday's semifinal match against Jacksonville State, where the Gamecocks narrowly defeated the Bruins 4-3 in Jacksonville, Ala. on Sunday. Belmont claimed the doubles portion of the match and picked up two singles wins, but Jacksonville State claimed four singles wins to edge the Bruins in the regular season finale.
If Belmont reaches Championship Sunday, the Bruins will face the winner between No. 1 seed Tennessee Tech and No. 4 seed Austin Peay. Tennessee Tech defeated the Bruins on March 22 5-2, finishing the season with a 9-5 overall and an undefeated record in OVC play. Belmont dominated Austin Peay on March 29 7-0, completing the 2021 regular season with a 2-10 record and a 2-3 record in OVC play.
First serve is set for 10 a.m. for Saturday and Sunday's matches.
