Men's Tennis | 3/22/2024 1:55:00 PM

#44 Emporia State Hornet Men (7-4, 1-0 MIAA/GAC)
at Quincy Hawks (3-7, 0-0 GLVC)
Sunday, March 24 • 1:00 p.m. • Reservoir Park• Quincy, Ill.
Up Next: vs. McPherson
Friday, March 22 • 1:00 p.m. • Kossover Family Tennis Complex • Emporia, Kan.

OVER THE RIVER
The #44 Emporia State men will head to the banks of the Mississippi River for a non-conference dual with Quincy in Quincy, Ill.
 
LAST SERVE
The Emporia State men's tennis team finished their trip to Florida with a 6-1 win over Wheaton (Mass.) College last Friday in Orlando.
The Hornets rolled through the doubles matches with Anton Sarunic and Mostafa Elbasnaly winning 6-1 at #1, Sergio Vera Martin and Harris Kossover taking a 6-2 victory at #3 and Diego Calvo and Lleyton Fosha wrapping it up at #2 with a 6-4 win.
Sarunic, who is ranked #50 in the nation this week, sat out the singles competition as everyone else moved up a spot. Elbasnaly won 6-2, 6-1 at #1 while Vera Martin took a 6-4, 6-0 win at #2 singles. Calvo played at #3 and won 6-1, 6-0, Harrison Brown took a 6-1, 6-1 win at #4 and Hachem Fahem won 6-1, 6-2 at #5 singles.  Fosha rounded out the singles players and fell in a third set 2-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-7) at #6 singles.

THE COACHES
John Blackburn is 7-4 in his first season as the head men's coach and Director of Tennis at Emporia State. He spent the past eight seasons as the head coach at NCAA Division III Methodist University in Fayetteville, N.C. He went 117-58 overall with a 54-4 record in conference play, winning three regular season conference championships, two conference tournament championships and made two NCAA Tournament appearances under his leadership. He was also a head coach at Eastern Illinois, Coker College and Palm Beach Atlantic.

A LOOK AT THE HORNETS
The Hornets are 7-4 on the season, 1-0 in the MIAA/GAC North Division and ranked #44 in the ITA National Rankings. They have won six of their last eight duals including an MIAA/GAC North Division opening win at Augustana. The two losses have come to nationally ranked Southern Arkansas and NCAA Division I Lehigh.
Anton Sarunic is ranked #54 in the nation in singles this spring.  He has a 11-8 overall record with a 6-5 mark in spring dual action.
Mostafa Elbasnaly opened the season with six straight wins, four of them at #3 singles before moving up to the #2 spot. He is 8-4 on the season, all in dual action.
Hachem Fahem picked up a win against Augustana on February 26 in his first action of the year and is 4-3 overall.
Sergio Vera Martin is 8-10 overall with a 3-6 record mostly at #2 singles this spring.  
Harrison Brown is 11-7 overall with a 5-3 mark this spring, including a 3-0 record at the #4 spot. He is 5-4 in doubles action playing with two different partners.
Diego Calvo is 6-4 overall with a 3-1 mark at #3 singles. He is 6-5 in doubles play with three different partners.
Harris Kossover has gone 2-2 this spring and is 5-8 overall on the year.
Lleyton Fosha is 3-3 in dual action this spring and is 4-10 overall.
 
KNOW THE FOE
Quincy is 3-7 on the season with a 4-3 win over then #48 Purdue Northwest. Inigo Villacampa is 7-3 at the #1 singles spot for the Hawks.

UP NEXT
The #44 Hornets will return to MIAA/GAC North Division play on Friday, March 29 when they travel to Kearney, Neb. to take on Neb.-Kearney.  First serve against the Lopers is set for 11:00 a.m.