UWF Men's Tennis Ranked No. 8 in Preseason National Poll

SKILLMAN, N.J. – The University of West Florida men’s tennis team is ranked No. 8 in the nation in the preseason version of the Campbell’s / ITA College Tennis Rankings, the ITA recently announced. The top 50 teams are ranked in the national preseason poll. Three UWF singles players and two doubles tandems are ranked in the preseason national poll.  In the South Region, UWF is ranked No. 7.

In the national poll, Barry holds the No. 1 spot, followed by Gulf South Conference (GSC)-foe Valdosta State. The GSC is also represented in the top 10 by No. 4 Ouachita Baptist and UWF. UWF finished last season with a No. 8 national ranking.

On the individual side, junior Kevin Ducros (Aix-en-Provence, France) is the highest ranked Argo with a No. 12 ranking in singles. Sophomore Leandro Ferreira (Sao Paulo, Brazil) is ranked No. 15. Junior Andrey Pozhidaev (Sochi, Russia) is ranked No. 20. The top 55 players in the country make the preseason singles rankings. In the fall, Pozhidaev advanced to the semifinals and Ferreira advanced to the quarterfinals of the open singles bracket at the USTA/ITA South Regional. Last season, Ferreira was named the ITA National Rookie of the Year.

The top 40 doubles tandems are also listed. The doubles duo of Ferreira and Lukas Larsson (Ystad, Sweden) is listed at No. 19 in the nation. Junior Mike Lue (Richmond Hill, Ontario) and Pozhideav team together to form the No. 37 duo in the nation.

Regional polls were also recently released. West Florida is listed as No. 7 among the top 15 teams ranked in the South Region. Barry holds the top spot in the South, followed by Valdosta State and Ouachita Baptist, both of the GSC. UWF and North Alabama, at No. 10, are the other GSC schools listed in the top 10. UWF finished the 2009-2010 season ranked No. 7 in the South Region.

On the individual side, Ducros is ranked No. 8 in the South Region singles rankings. Ferreira is listed at No. 9, and Pozhidaev is listed at No. 10. Twenty-five singles players are ranked in the regional singles rankings. Ferreira and Larsson are listed at No. 8 in doubles in the region, while Lue and Pozhideav are listed at No. 12. For doubles, 19 doubles teams are ranked in the South Region.

UWF is coming off of a 2009-2010 season in which the Argos went 12-11. West Florida advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA South Regional before falling to Barry. Ducros was named an ITA All-American in singles. Ducros and Ferreira were an ITA All-American doubles selection.

For information on all UWF Athletics, visit www.GoArgos.com