Men's Tennis Begins Horizon League Slate Thursday with Tennessee State

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – After a successful 14-match non-conference schedule, the Belmont University men's tennis team begins Horizon League play Thursday afternoon at home. The Bruins, who completed their non-conference slate with a 9-5 record, welcome crosstown league adversary Tennessee State to the Belmont Tennis Complex for a 2 p.m. first serve.
 
Live statistics of Thursday's Horizon League opener will be available at BelmontBruins.com.
 
Earning the first national team ranking in program history on Feb. 21, Belmont began the season 5-0 and enters conference play having won consecutive matches and three of its last four. The Bruins are fresh off a 2-0 week with a 6-1 road victory at Samford last Saturday and a 5-2 win over visiting Dartmouth last Thursday in Nashville.
 
An unblemished 6-0 at home this season, Belmont has given up no more than two points in any match played in the Music City. Featuring the nationally-ranked doubles duo of graduate student Marko Ilic and junior Riccardo Trione, who are an impressive 10-1 at the top spot this year, the Bruins have relied heavily on their depth. Five different players boast a winning singles record in dual matches this season.
 
Last March, Belmont defeated the Tigers 5-2 on the road in both squad's Ohio Valley Conference opener. The Bruins took the top two doubles matches in convincing fashion for the key doubles point before winning three of the top four singles contests. All four of Belmont's singles wins were in straight sets as current Bruins Ian Cruz (No. 2 singles), Alfred Wallin (No. 6 singles) and Diego Castro (No. 4 singles) collected victories.
 
Tennessee State enters Horizon League action 4-10, but like Belmont has played a challenging non-conference schedule. The Tigers have won two of their last three outings with 4-1 home wins over Northern Illinois and Alabama A&M, and a narrow 4-3 neutral-site loss to Xavier.
 
Tennessee State is 0-8 on the road this season.
 
The Bruins were picked to win the newly reconstructed Horizon League, which is broken up into a North Division (Chicago State, Cleveland State, IUPUI, Northern Kentucky and Youngstown State) and a South Division (Belmont, Eastern Illinois, Lindenwood, Southern Indiana, Tennessee State and Tennessee Tech). All teams in the Horizon League South Division play a 10-match conference slate with both a home and an away match against every other program in the division.
 
Up Next
Belmont makes its first Horizon League road trip this weekend, traveling to Southern Indiana Saturday and Tennessee Tech Sunday. Both matches are scheduled for a 2 p.m. first serve.
 
Follow Belmont men's tennis on social media – @BelmontMTennis on Twitter and @belmontmtennis on Instagram – for complete coverage of the Bruins. Stay up to date with all of Belmont's athletic programs via the official app of the Belmont Bruins, available both in the Apple App Store and on Google Play.