OGDEN, Utah (January 8, 2019) – In a vote by the league's coaches, the Northern Arizona men's tennis team was picked to finish first in the Big Sky Preseason Poll released by the league office Tuesday morning. The Lumberjacks received eight of the 11 first-place votes.
The Jacks' ended up receiving 98 points in the Big Sky poll with the eight first-place votes by the conferences head coaches. Montana ended up coming in second in the poll with 74 points, although they did not receive any first-place votes. The other first-place votes went to Idaho who received two and was picked to finish third in the conference with 72 points and Southern Utah who received one first-place vote and was picked fourth overall with 69 points.
The 'Jacks strength coming into the 2019 season will come from its experience as NAU had five returning seniors,
Justin Bac,
Thomas Fisher,
Tim Handel,
Ruben Montano, and
Lucas Taylor. Of the five, three were on the All-Big Sky teams for singles in 2018 with Handel being the Big Sky's Most Valuable Player along with Taylor getting Second-Team honors and Fisher getting honorable mention. The Lumberjacks will also be looking for contribution from some faces who did not participate last year, such as redshirt sophomore
David Nguyen, who went 9-2 as a freshman before redshirting the 2018 season or the three freshmen newcomers
Daniel Dillon,
Ron Idzon and
Facundo Tumosa who all showed great promise in the fall.
Following Southern Utah in the Preseason Poll is Weber State, Portland State and Sacramento State in fifth through eighth place, while the final three teams in the conference are Idaho State, Eastern Washington, and Northern Colorado.
2019 Big Sky Men's Tennis Preseason Poll (First-Place Votes in Parentheses)
1. Northern Arizona – 98 (8)
2. Montana – 74
3. Idaho – 72 (2)
4. Southern Utah – 69 (1)
5. Weber State – 68
6. Portland State – 58
7. Sacramento State – 57
8. Montana State – 38
9. Idaho State – 36
10. Eastern Washington – 25
11. Northern Colorado – 10
