Men's Tennis | January 31, 2020
WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. - The La Salle men's tennis team, coming off a historic 2019 season, looks to continue momentum right into the 2020 season that begins on Saturday with a non-league match against Monmouth. First serve is set for 3:00 p.m.
ABOUT THE EXPLORERS
- The Explorers, who will be led by first-year head coach Marco Matteucci, picked up the first Atlantic 10 Tournament win in program history and pulled off the biggest upset in A-10 tournament history when it defeated George Mason, 4-2, as the No. 11 seed.
- Matteucci enters his first season at the helm of the La Salle program after spending over a decade as an assistant at such schools as Baylor, Arizona, UT Arlington and Columbia.
- La Salle returns four of its six starters from last year's team, including a three-person junior class of Rogelio Gonzalez, Connor Merrill and Colin Lucious.
- Gonzalez won 20 matches between singles and doubles last year, including a three-set win over former Second Team All-A-10 selection Pally Ray of George Mason at A-10's.
- Also expected to play large roles are sophomore Nassim Fenjiro and freshmen Brandon Caban and Gage Sanchez.
- Fenjiro put together a promising freshman season and took home a victory at A-10's at No. 3 singles.
- Senior Andrija Bozovic rounds out the roster, bringing three years of Division I experience.
SCOUTING MONMOUTH
- One of the top mid-major programs in the Northeast, Monmouth went 18-2 in dual meets last year including a 6-0 mark In Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference competition.
- The Hawks won their fourth straight MAAC title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament, falling to Penn State in the opening round, 4-0.
- Five starters from last year's lineup return, led by MAAC Rookie of the Year Will Cooke Wharton and First Team All-MAACÂ selection Max Benaim.
