The University of Southern Indiana men’s tennis team earned the second seed in the East Division for the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tennis Tournament with its 5-1 conference record. Overall, the Screaming Eagles finished the year with a 15-4 record before moving into the GLVC Tournament. The event will be held in Romeoville, Illinois.
USI in 2015-16
Despite dropping two region matches in February, USI went on to win 13 of their final fifteen matches including six sweeps. The Eagles managed a 10-match win streak that was snapped in the final week of the regular season. The streak is the team’s longest since the 2012-13 season when USI won 12 consecutive matches, winning the conference tournament and making an appearance at the national championships.
ITA Rankings Updated
USI moved up six spots in the latest ITA national rankings release Wednesday afternoon. The Eagles make the jump six spots to 39th and move ahead of GLVC opponents Drury University and Lewis University. The University of Indianapolis is ranked 19th and tops the region poll. USI also remains fourth in the Midwest Region Rankings.
Star Seniors
Two USI seniors have been models of consistency for the Eagles over their time in Evansville. Jack Joyce(Bournemouth, England) has lead a young and talented roster, filling any position necessary. Joyce has a 17-5 record in singles competition and is on his way to his fourth 20-win season as an Eagle. Joel Stern(Mjoelby, Sweden) has anchored the back end of singles matches for USI. The fourth year senior has earned a 15-4 mark during his singles matches. The two have teamed together in doubles play for 12 matches winning 11, including their first 11 of the year.
Top Newcomers
With the third most combined win on the team, freshman James Hardiman (Blackwell Bristol, United Kingdom) currently holds a 10-match win streak in singles play to highlight his season record of 16-3. The freshman’s doubles record, 16-3, mirrors his singles mark with 13 of those wins coming with junior Aaron Barris (Marietta, Georgia). Another first year Eagles, junior transfer Paul Forichon (Nimes, France) leads USI in combined wins with an 18-3 singles record, including a nine-match win-streak, and a 16-8 doubles record.
USI Record BookÂ
A number of Eagles have worked their way up the USI record books. Joyce has moved into fifth all time for career singles wins with 74. Joyce also moved into a tie for fourth place with assistant coach Ben Boesing for the most doubles wins in a career with 79. The two totals move Joyce into third place all-time for the most combined wins. The doubles team of Barris and Hardiman sit in third all-time with their current 13 match win streak.
Rockhurst in 2015-16
The Hawks of Rockhurst University finished their 2015-16 regular season just above .500 with a 9-8 mark. Their 3-2 record in GLVC action was good enough for the third seed in the East Division. The Hawks have lost two consecutive matches and are a combined 2-6 away from Kansas City.
2015 GLVC Tournament
The Eagles also took on Rockhurst in the quarterfinal round of last year’s GLVC Tournament. USI took all three doubles match to get out to the early lead before winning the match, 5-1. Â In the semifinals, then #15 Drury fell behind early losing two of three doubles matches but eventually won the match, 5-2.
USI (15-3, 5-1 GLVC) begins play in the quarterfinal round of the GLVC Tennis Tournament Friday morning. In the opening round, the Eagles will take on Rockhurst University for the second consecutive year at 9 a.m. at Plainfield East High School in Plainfield, Illinois
