Belmont Bruins Men’s Tennis 2021 NCAA Men’s Tennis Championship Guide

Men’s Tennis contact: Grant Cohen C: (316) 239-5213 E: [email protected]

2021 SPRING SCHEDULE April 8 January/February 3:30 p.m.

Sunday 31 at Vanderbilt L, 6-1 April 9 Friday 5 at Bellarmine W, 6-1 Palmer/Salloum Friday 12 at Lipscomb W, 4-3 Tennis Center

MARCH Oxford, Miss. Saturday 6 at Alabama State W, 7-0 Sunday 7 at Alabama A&M W, 7-0 13-4, 3-2 OVC 11-10, 7-5 SEC Saturday 13 CARSON-NEWMAN W, 4-0 Tuesday 16 LIPSCOMB W, 4-3 Monday 22 TECH* L, 5-2 Wed. 24 DEPAUL W, 7-0 Monday 29 AUSTIN PEAY* W, 7-0

APRIL

Friday 2 at Eastern Illinois* W, 6-1 Monday 5 CHATTANOOGA L, 5-2 Saturday 10 at Tennessee State* W, 7-0 Saturday 17 UAB W, 6-1 Sunday 18 at Jacksonville State* L, 4-3 Saturday 24 vs. Jacksonville State# W, 4-2 17-7, 1-0 CUSA 14-7, 0-0 AAC Sunday 25 vs. Tennessee Tech# W, 4-3 Home games in bold * games NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY #OVC Tournament in Evansville, Indiana ALL-TIME RECORD 0-1 LAST MEETING May 13, 2006, L 4-0-Ole Miss (Oxford, Miss.) The men’s tennis team will face No. 15 seed Ole Miss on Saturday at 3 p.m. in Oxford, Mississippi in the 2021 NCAA Men’s Tennis Championship, the NCAA announced Monday. COVERAGE After claiming the Ohio Valley Conference regular season crown in 2018 and 2019, Belmont earned its first-ever OVC Tournament title with a dramatic 4-3 victory over Tennessee Tech on April 25.

Ole Miss Athletics The Bruins will be making their second NCAA Tournament appearance as a team in program history, their first being in 2006 as a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference.

Belmont compiled a 13-4 record in 2021, led by senior and 2021 OVC Men’s Tennis Player of the Year Marko Ilic. Ilic, a three-time All- Ole Miss Athletics OVC First Team honoree, ranks fourth in program history in career singles victories with 58. While the NCAA Tournament will be uncharted territory for his teammates, Ilic is no stranger to college tennis’ biggest stage.

In 2019, Ilic and partner Hendrik Inno advanced to the round of 16 in the NCAA Doubles Championship held at USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida. The duo defeated Florida’s McClain Kessler and Duarte Vale in straight sets 7-6, 7-6 before falling to No. 2 seed FOLLOW US Maxime Cressy and Keegan Smith of UCLA. Junior Arthur Toledo and freshman Tomas Luis also received all-conference awards in 2021, with both student-athletes being named to the All-OVC Second Team. Toledo co-led the team in singles wins with a 13-3 record while Luis was one of three freshmen on the @BelmontTennis roster to compile double-digit wins, having a 10-7 record in 2021. Both players also made significant contributions in doubles play, where Luis went 11-2 with freshman Diego Castro, who clinched Belmont’s victory in the OVC Championship match.

belmontmenstennis Toledo finished with an 8-4 overall doubles record while going 8-3 with senior Jake Briggs.

Senior Taisei Miyamoto compiled 11 doubles victories in 2021 with Ilic, the 12th-most in program history for a single season.

www.belmontbruins.com Ole Miss finished the 2021 regular season with an 11-10 record, collecting seven wins over top 50 ranked teams in the process. Tim Sandkaulen and Nikola Slavic lead the Rebels in singles play with 13 wins each, with Sandkaulen going 14-2 with Finn Reynolds in doubles play.

The Bruins played No. 14 Ole Miss in Oxford, Mississippi, in their first NCAA Championship appearance in 2006, where the Rebels defeated the Bruins 4-0.

First serve is set for 3 p.m. on Saturday following the Middle Tennessee and Tulane match, with live stats and a video stream being available courtesy of Ole Miss Athletics.

Game Notes • 1 2021 SPRING ROSTER

2021 Belmont Men’s Tennis Roster

Name Ht Cl Exp. Hometown (Last School) Jake Briggs 6-1 SR 2L Marietta, Ga. (Calhoun HS) Diego Castro 6-1 FR HS Ribeirão Preto, Brazil David Faulkner 6-0 SR 2L Birmingham, Ala. (Mountain Brook HS) Marko Ilic 6-0 SR 2L Zagreb, Croatia (XV.Gimnazija) Grant Kelly 6-3 SR 2L Atlanta, Ga. (Marist School) Tomas Luis 5-11 FR HS Algarve, Portugal (Fonseca Benevides) Taisei Miyamoto 5-10 SR TR Chiba, Japan (ETSU) Arthur Toledo 5-10 JR TR Greenacres, Fla. (Cerritos College) Alfred Wallin 5-10 FR HS Malmo, Sweden (Malmö Idrottsgymnasium)

Head Coach: Mauricio Antun (Belmont, 2015) Assistant Coach: Danny Hester (Auburn, 2018) Assistant Coach: Kevin Riser

Pronunciation Guide Marko Ilic (E-lich) Tomas (Toe-mas) Luis (Lew-ees) Taisei (TIE-say) Miyamoto (MEE-ya-moto) Alfred Wallin (Wall-in)

QUICK FACTS

GENERAL INFORMATION TEAM HISTORY School Belmont University 2021 Overall Record 13-4 Location Nashville, Tenn. 2021 OVC Record 3-2 Founded 1890 2021 Postseason 2-0 Enrollment 8,481 First Year of Program 1997 Nickname Bruins NCAA Tournament Appearances 2 Colors Navy Blue, Red, and White COACHING STAFF Affiliation NCAA Division I Director of Tennis Mauricio Antun (6th Season) Conference Ohio Valley Record at Belmont 70-53 President Dr. Robert C. Fisher Assistant Coach Danny Hester Athletics Director Scott Corley Home Field Belmont Tennis Complex Capacity 100 MEDIA RELATIONS Website www.belmontbruins.com Men’s Tennis Contact Grant Cohen Twitter @BelmontTennis Cohen’s Email [email protected] Instagram belmonttennis Cohen’s Office Phone (615) 460-8023 Cohen’s Cell Phone (316) 239-5213 On-Site Contact Greg Sage Sage’s Email [email protected] Sage’s Office Phone (615) 460-6698 Sage’s Cell Phone (615) 512-3633

Game Notes • 2 Director of Tennis MAURICIO ANTUN CAREER | 70-53

1 Conference Tournament Title

1 NCAA Tournament 2 Conference Regular Season Titles

70 Wins at Belmont

• Belmont season. Season W/L Postseason 2015-16 10-11 OVC Semifinals Prior to his coaching career, Antun ranks 2016-17 10-14 OVC Semifinals 2017-18 14-11 OVC Championship among the all-time great players in Belmont 2018-19 12-10 OVC Semifinals history. After two seasons at Virginia Tech, 2019-20 11-3 Cancelled Due To COVID-19 the Brazil native was named 2014 OVC 2020-21 13-4 OVC Champions, NCAA Tournament Player of the Year in leading the Bruins TOTAL 70-53 to the league title. Antun’s 79 combined victories between singles and doubles - and .888 career conference winning percentage Mauricio Antun enters his sixth season as Director of - top the program record book. Tennis for Belmont University. Before coming to Belmont, Antun spent two In this role, Antun is responsible for overseeing the years competing at Virginia Tech, where Belmont men’s and women’s tennis programs. he earned 27 singles wins and was named Rookie of the Year in 2012. “Evaluating the organizational structure of our men’s and women’s tennis programs has been front of mind Antun resides in Nashville. for some time,” Corley said. “The goal was to ensure that we had the right leadership in place to lead both programs to success on and off the court. After careful consideration, I have named Mauricio Antun the new Director of Tennis. This speaks to Mauricio’s leadership capabilities, and the terrific job he has done in advancing the men’s program. I am excited, and highly confident, he will be able to have the same impact on our women’s program.” Since taking over the men’s program in July 2016, the Bruin program has taken overwhelming strides at the conference, regional and national levels. During his tenure, Mauricio has led the program to two OVC regular season titles and seen four players earn All-OVC honors, including Hendrik Inno being named OVC Player of the Year for two consecutive years (2018, 2019). He has also earned OVC Coach of Year honors in 2018 and 2019. Antun has also helped the program garner accolades on the national stage as well. Last season, Hendrik Inno and Marko Ilic reached the Round of 16 at the NCAA Doubles Championship, won the ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championship, competed at the ITA Fall National Championship, and earned a Top-30 ITA Ranking. Inno also earned entry into the singes draw at the prestigious ITA Oracle Masters at Pepperdine University in September. In taking over the women’s program in January 2019, Antun made an immediate impact. In his first year, the program earned 12 wins, the most since the 2003-04 season. They also qualified for the OVC Championship for the first time since the 2012-13 RADIO/TV ROSTER

Jake Briggs Diego Castro David Faulkner 6-1 | Sr. | Marietta, Ga. 6-1 | Fr. | Ribeirão Preto, Brazil 6-0 | Sr. | Birmingham, Ala.

Marko Ilic Grant Kelly Tomas Luis 6-0 | Sr. | Zagreb, Croatia 6-3 | Sr. | Atlanta, Ga. 5-11 | Fr. | Algarve, Portugal

Taisei Miyamoto Arthur Toledo Alfred Wallin 5-10 | Sr. | Chiba, Japan 5-10 | Jr. | Greenacres, Fla. 5-10 | Fr. | Malmo, Sweden

Game Notes • 4 FAMILIAR FOE In its second NCAA Tournament appearance in program history, Belmont Men’s Tennis faces a familiar foe in No. 15 seed Ole Miss. After winning the Atlantic Sun Conference in 2006, the Bruins traveled to Oxford to face Ole Miss in the program’s first NCAA Tournament. Belmont also played Ole Miss in a regular season match on Jan. 19, 2020, where the Rebels defeated the Bruins 7-0.

MIRACULOUS MARKO Senior Marko Ilic has saved his best for last in his senior season in 2021. Ilic earned 2021 Ohio Valley Conference Men’s Tennis Player of the Year honors in addition to earning his third All-OVC First Team honor. The Zagreb, Croatia native ranks fourth in program history in career singles victories with 58 and has compiled a 13-4 singles record in 2021.

NOT UNCHARTED TERRITORY While the NCAA Tournament will be uncharted territory for his teammates, Marko Ilic is no stranger to college tennis’ biggest stage. In 2019, Ilic and partner Hendrik Inno advanced to the round of 16 in the NCAA Doubles Championship held at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida. The duo defeated Florida’s McClain Kessler and Duarte Vale in straight sets 7-6, 7-6 before falling to No. 2 seed Maxime Cressy and Keegan Smith of UCLA.

SIGNIFICANT IMPACT Junior Arthur Toledo and freshman Tomas Luis have been key for Belmont’s success in 2021, where both earned a spot on the All-OVC Second Team. Starting the season with a singles victory over Vanderbilt’s Max Freeman, Toledo currently has a 13-3 record in singles play and an 8-4 record in doubles play. The Belo Horizonte, Brazil native earned OVC Player of the Week honors on Feb. 3, beginning a streak of five of the first six weekly selections being Belmont student-athletes. Luis has a 10-7 record in singles play and an 11-2 record in doubles play with freshman Diego Castro, who clinched the deciding match to give Belmont the OVC title over Tennessee Tech. The Tavira, Portugal native also earned OVC Player of the Week honors on March 17.

DYNAMIC DUO Seniors Marko Ilic and Taisei Miyamoto in addition with freshmen Tomas Luis and Diego Castro have been lights out for Belmont in the doubles portion of the season. Both sets of doubles teams has reached 11 wins in 2021, the 12th-most in program history for a single season. If either team obtains another doubles win this season, they will move into a tie with Renato Antun/Rafael Matos (2011-12) for 11th in program history for a single season.

WINNING CULTURE On April 10, 2021, Belmont reached double-digit wins in a season with a 7-0 victory over Tennessee State. The victory marked the eighth consecutive season where Belmont has won at least 10 matches in a season.

SHUTOUT CITY During the season, six of Belmont’s 13 victories have been shutouts. Recording back-to-back 7-0 shutouts on two separate occasions this season, 2021 marked the first time in the last 10 seasons where the Bruins have collected back-to-back 7-0 sweeps.

STATE OF THE ART Belmont University dedicated its new, on-campus tennis facility on March 10th with a ribbon cutting ceremony and celebration. The tennis facility on Compton Avenue will be the permanent on campus home for Belmont’s NCAA Division I men’s and women’s tennis teams. The teams have played for the last decade at nearby Centennial Sportsplex following the construction of the Baskin Center near the site of the former courts. The tennis facility, which sits on the top floor of a new 830-space parking garage, includes team locker rooms and coaches’ offices in addition to the six NCAA Division I regulation courts. The structure also will connect to a new indoor practice facility that is currently under construction, which will serve as the primary training home for Belmont’s men’s and women’s and volleyball programs when it opens later this year. Belmont went 4-2 on its brand new courts in 2021.

YOUNG GUN At the age of 28, Belmont Director of Tennis Mauricio Antun is the youngest coach in the 2021 NCAA Tennis Championships. Prior to his coaching career, Antun ranks among the all-time great players in Belmont history. After two seasons at Virginia Tech, the Brazil native was named 2014 OVC Player of the Year in leading the Bruins to the league title. Antun’s 79 combined victories between singles and doubles - and .888 career conference winning percentage - top the program record book. Before coming to Belmont, Antun spent two years competing at Virginia Tech, where he earned 27 singles wins and was named Rookie of the Year in 2012.

SEC EXPERIENCE Not only will Belmont be playing its second SEC opponent of the season, assistant coach Danny Hester is returning to facing SEC competition. Hester, a 2018 graduate of Auburn University, competed as a member of the university’s club tennis travel team that won a National Championship in 2016. As a Nashville area native, Hester has been a part of the local tennis community for many years. An accomplished junior player, he helped capture two state championships for Brentwood High School. Hester is currently a teaching pro at Brentwood Swim & Tennis Club at Wildwood, working with the junior and adult level programs.

BELMONT VS. POWER 5 The Bruins have held their own against competition from Power 5 opponents, showcasing that earlier this season. Junior Arthur Toledo’s singles victory over Vanderbilt’s Max Freeman marked the second consecutive season where a Belmont men’s tennis player claimed a victory over an opponent from a Power 5 school.

Game Notes • 5 SEASON STATS

2021 Belmont Men's Tennis Belmont Season Statistics (Through games of May 03, 2021)

Overall record: 13-4 • OVC: 2-2 • Region: 1-1 • Home: 6-2 • Away: 5-2 • Neutral: 2-0 vs National ranked: 0-0 • vs Regional ranked: 0-0

vs ranke Last SINGLES Overall Dual Tour OVC 1 2 3 4 5 6 Nat'l Reg'l Strk 10 Jake Briggs 1-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 ------1-0 0-0 0-0 W1 1-0 Diego Castro 10-6 10-6 0-0 1-3 ------6-4 3-2 1-0 0-0 0-0 W1 5-5 Marko Ilic 13-4 13-4 0-0 4-0 13-4 ------0-0 0-0 W3 8-2 Tomas Luis 10-7 10-7 0-0 2-2 --- 0-1 7-5 2-1 1-0 --- 0-0 0-0 L3 6-4 Taisei Miyamoto 8-7 8-7 0-0 2-2 ------3-1 0-3 5-3 --- 0-0 0-0 L2 5-4 Arthur Toledo 13-3 13-3 0-0 2-2 --- 13-3 ------0-0 0-0 L1 7-3 Alfred Wallin 11-4 11-4 0-0 3-1 ------1-0 1-0 9-4 0-0 0-0 W4 7-2 Totals 67-31 67-31 0-0 14-10 13-4 13-4 10-6 9-8 10-5 12-4 0-0 0-0 Percentage .684 .684 .000 .583 .765 .765 .625 .529 .667 .750 .000 .000

vs ranke Last DOUBLES TEAMS Overall Dual Tour OVC 1 2 3 Nat'l Reg'l Strk 10 Marko Ilic/Taisei Miyamoto 11-6 11-6 0-0 3-1 11-6 ------0-0 0-0 L1 5-5 Diego Castro/Arthur Toledo 0-1 0-1 0-0 0-0 --- 0-1 --- 0-0 0-0 L1 0-1 Grant Kelly/Alfred Wallin 0-1 0-1 0-0 0-0 ------0-1 0-0 0-0 L1 0-1 Diego Castro/Grant Kelly 1-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 --- 1-0 --- 0-0 0-0 W1 1-0 David Faulkner/Alfred Wallin 0-1 0-1 0-0 0-0 ------0-1 0-0 0-0 L1 0-1 Diego Castro/Tomas Luis 11-2 11-2 0-0 3-0 --- 11-2 --- 0-0 0-0 W4 8-2 Jake Briggs/Arthur Toledo 8-3 8-3 0-0 3-0 ------8-3 0-0 0-0 W3 8-2 Totals 32-14 32-14 0-0 9-1 11-6 12-3 9-5 0-0 0-0 Percentage .696 .696 .000 .900 .647 .800 .643 .000 .000

Date Opponent Score Overall OVC Nation Regio % Jan 31, 2021 at Vanderbilt L 1-6 0-1 0-0 2/5/2021 at Bellarmine University W 6-1 1-1 0-0 Feb 12, 2021 at Lipscomb W 4-3 2-1 0-0 % 3/6/21 at Alabama State W 7-0 3-1 0-0 3/7/2021 at AAMU W 7-0 4-1 0-0 Mar 11, 2021 RADFORD Mar 14, 2021 CARSON-NEWMAN W 4-0 5-1 0-0 Mar 16, 2021 LIPSCOMB W 4-3 6-1 0-0 * Mar 22, 2021 TENNESSEE TECH L 2-5 6-2 0-1 Mar 24, 2021 DEPAUL W 7-0 7-2 0-1 * Mar 29, 2021 AUSTIN PEAY W 7-0 8-2 1-1 * 4/2/2021 at Eastern Illinois W 6-1 9-2 2-1 Apr 05, 2021 CHATTANOOGA L 2-5 9-3 2-1 Apr 10, 2021 TENNESSEE STATE W 7-0 10-3 2-1 Apr 17, 2021 UAB W 6-1 11-3 2-1 * 4/18/2021 at Jacksonville State L 3-4 11-4 2-2 Apr 24, 2021 vs Jacksonville State W 4-2 12-4 2-2 Apr 25, 2021 vs Tennessee Tech W 4-3 13-4 2-2

Game Notes • 6