Columbus State Tennis Teams Enter Season with National Rankings
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Columbus – The Columbus State University men's and women's team received high honors as the Intercollegiate Tennis Association released their preseason national rankings. The CSU men's team will open up play as the ninth ranked team in the country and the second ranked team in the Southeast region while the women will start the season in the No. 12 spot in the nation and the third spot in the region.
The CSU men's tennis team has become a national power as coach Evan Isaacs' squad has been a national semifinalist the past two seasons. Last season in the "Final Four", the Cougars lost a heartbreaking 5-3 decision to the eventual national champions, Valdosta State.
Fresh off his final round appearance in the USTA/ITA Southeast Regional this fall, Olivier Simonet is the 25th ranked player in the nation and the seventh ranked player in the region according to the preseason poll. The only other Cougar player that is ranked inside the top-50 to begin the season is Martin Shishkov who comes in at the No. 42 spot. Gordan Divljak also received votes.
In the southeast region, Shishkov is ranked 12th as a singles player while Divljak is 17th.
Simonet and Shishkov also received high praise as a doubles team as the duo will begin the season ranked sixth in the nation. In the region, Simonet and Shishkov are ranked second only behind Matus Mydla and Pedro Scocuglia of Armstrong Atlantic State University who defeated the Cougar duo in the USTA/ITA regional earlier this year.
On the women's side, newcomer Carolin Weikard is the lone Lady Cougar to begin the season as a ranked player in the nation. Weikard will start the season ranked 36th and eighth in the region. Renata Paiva also received votes for the national poll.
For the region rankings, Pavia is ranked 13th while Olivera Jokic is ranked 15th.
Coach Isaacs will also have two doubles pairs ranked in the southeast region to begin the season. Weikard and Paiva are projected to be the sixth best duo in the region while Jokic and Andrea Redrado garnered consideration as they were ranked ninth.
Click here for the full men's rankings and here for the full women's rankings.
The Columbus State tennis schedule will be announced later this month.
