Men's Tennis Picked to Repeat as Horizon League Champions

INDIANAPOLIS – For the fourth-straight year, the Belmont University men's tennis team has been selected as the preseason favorite to win the Horizon League South Division. The three-time defending Horizon League South Division champion Bruins garnered a trio of first-place votes and 15 total points from a vote of the league's head coaches in the 2026 Under Armour Horizon League Men's Tennis South Division Preseason Poll, which was revealed Friday.
 
After winning the 2025 Horizon League Championship, Belmont was also chosen as the overall favorite in the league's preseason poll.
 
The Bruins have captured four consecutive Horizon League South Division crowns and won two of the last three Horizon League Championships. Since joining the Horizon League prior to the 2023 spring championship season, Belmont has gone an unblemished 19-0 in league play. The Bruins have also posted an impressive 5-1 record in the Horizon League Championship, earning the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship last spring and in 2023 in their first season in the league.
 
Belmont defeated Cleveland State 4-3 in comeback fashion in last season's Horizon League Championship title match after dropping the doubles point and trailing 3-2. The Bruins have won three conference tournament championships in the last five seasons and four-straight regular season titles.
 
On a 23-match winning streak in conference play, Belmont hasn't lost a league match since April 18, 2021, when the Bruins were members of the Ohio Valley Conference.
 
Head coach Jeff Cero, the 2025 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Ohio Valley Region Coach of the Year, enters his third season leading Belmont. The Bruins ended last year ranked ninth in the ITA Ohio Valley Region, going 13-11 overall.
 
This past fall, Belmont swept the Horizon League Individual Championships hosted by the Bruins in Nashville. Senior Sabi Roi, an All-Horizon League Second Team selection last spring, claimed the singles title, while Roi and junior Stefan Vedovelli won the doubles championship. The pair punched their ticket to California for the ITA Conference Masters Championships with their individual titles.
 
Senior Esunge Ndumbe, an All-Horizon League First Team performer last year, and sophomore Charlie Robin, the 2025 Horizon League Freshman of the Year and an All-Horizon League Second Team honoree, are also both back for Belmont.
 
Along with Roi, Vedovelli, Ndumbe and Robin, the Bruins return three other letter winners from last season's championship team – senior Eli Mizerski and sophomores Esteban Ortiz and Morgan Woodson. Belmont also features a trio of newcomers, including graduate transfer Will Ecklund (Drake) and freshmen Bautista Durrels Rojo (Buenos Aires, Argentina) and Austin Yack (Thornhill, Ontario, Canada).
 
The Bruins begin their 2026 campaign in exactly one week, traveling to the West Coast next weekend. Belmont opens with a neutral-site match versus the University of Portland in Seattle next Friday before taking on Washington next Saturday, Jan. 17. Both matches will be played on Washington's campus at the Nordstrom Tennis Center. First serve of the Bruins' season opener next Friday is set for 5 p.m. CT/3 p.m. PT.
 
How to Follow
Follow Belmont men's tennis on social media – @BelmontMTennis on X, formerly 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.