LAKELAND, Fla. – Florida Southern College men's tennis has earned a place in the 2022 Sunshine State Conference Tournament, as the fifth seed to take on Saint Leo University, the fourth seed, in the SSC quarterfinals on Friday, April 22
nd.
Location: Bradenton, Fla.
Center: IMG Academy Tennis Court, hosted by Barry University.
Start Time: 2:00 p.m.
Coverage: Live Scores -
www.fscmocs.com/stats
"The team has been through a lot this year," said Assistant Athletics Director Mike Moran. "They have continued to work extremely hard throughout the season to get to the position they are currently in. Finishing the regular season ranked in the top 25 in the nation is an accomplishment within itself. We are looking forward to the conference championships this week."
5th Seed – The Moccasins – Roster | Schedule | Statistics
Florida Southern enters the tournament with a 10-7 overall record, and 2-5 conference record. Ranked 22
nd in the nation according to the latest ITA poll, the Mocs have faced tough competition toward the end of the season, facing three top 20 teams in a row. The Mocs managed a few points between the games, but lost their last three, with their last win a big 5-2 win over No. 35 Palm Beach Atlantic. The Mocs entered top 25 standings after back-to-back wins against No. 21 Charleston and No. 23 AUM earlier in the season.
Leaders on the team include singles No. 65
Valentin Hertweck, who has tallied 10 wins during singles competition. A team-best record of 10-3 sits
Oscar Sohl who continues to perform well, winning 10 straight matches to start the season. Hertweck had a team-best two wins over nationally ranked opponents. In doubles competition, pairing of Hertweck and
Chris Fok Kow lead the team with eight wins this season, with
Oscar Sohl and
Erik Nordblom right behind with an 8-5 record. Between different pairings, Hertweck has tallied 10 doubles wins.
4th Seed – The Lions – Roster | Schedule | Statistics
Saint Leo faces the Mocs for the second time this year as they come into the tournament as a four seed. The Lions enter with a tough 4-1 loss to No. 7 Hawaii Pacific during a neutral site matchup last Saturday. Despite the loss, the Lions had a string of big wins over ranked opponents, including a 4-3 win over No. 9 West Florida and 6-1 win over No. 18 Rollins. Aside from their loss to Hawaii Pacific, Saint Leo has only lost to No. 1 Barry and No. 15 Embry-Riddle early in the season.
A powerhouse in singles, the Lions are led by Bruno Faletto, who is ranked fourth in the nation in singles competition. Vincent Thiel is ranked 24
th in singles, as is Nicolas Bacella, coming in 51
st. The doubles pairing of Faletto and Willem van den Akker come in at No. 5 in doubles.
FSC in the SSC Tournament
The Mocs enter the tournament with a 20-28 overall record in the SSC tourney. Florida Southern has won two SSC Championships, the first in 2000 and the last coming in 2002. Their wins in 2000 included tournament victories over Rollins and Barry, before beating the same two teams in 2002 to again be named SSC Champions.
Florida Southern has faced Saint Leo in the SSC Tournament five times, with the Lions coming out on top in all but one of the matches, a 9-0 win in April 2005, a third-place finish at the time. The last time these two met in the tournament was in 2019, where the Lions won 4-0.
The Matchup – FSC vs SLU
Florida Southern has struggled when facing the Lions, losing the last 15 matches played. Last time these two met was last month, when Saint Leo won 7-0. FSC went into the match ranked 30
th in the nation, as the Lions were sitting in the No. 2 spot. The last win for the Mocs against Saint Leo came in 5-4 conference win on March 30
th, 2011, at home, to end a 30-game win streak against Saint Leo, since their first game in 1996. When in a neutral site, the Mocs are 1-4 against the Lions.
Other Matches:
#1 Lynn vs #8 Eckerd – 2:00 PM
#3 Embry-Riddle vs #6 Rollins – 2:00 PM
#2 Barry vs #7 Palm Beach Atlantic – 2:00 PM
Following the Friday quarterfinal round, winners will compete Saturday, April 23
rd, set for a 2:00 PM start, with the Championship and Third Place matches on Sunday, April 24
th, at 1:00 PM. Winners of each championship will receive automatic qualification to the 2022 NCAA Division II Championships. First and second rounds for the NCAA Championships will be played at non-predetermined sites between Monday, May 9th - Tuesday, May 10th. Finals for both men and women will take place Wednesday, May 18th - Monday, May 23rd at the Sanlando Park in Altamonte Springs, Florida. The NCAA will announce championship selections and seeding on Tuesday, May 3rd.
