OXFORD, Miss. – The 2018 campaign will get underway Sunday for the Alcorn State University men's tennis program when it heads to Ole Miss for a 1 p.m. doubleheader at the Palmer/Solloum Tennis Center.
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The Braves are headlined by senior
Kert Kilumets who is the reigning SWAC Player of the Year. Playing No. 1 singles, Kilumets went undefeated against SWAC competition last season and won all four of his matches (two singles, two doubles) at the SWAC Championships. Kilumets was also named to the All-Conference First-Team and All-Tournament Team.
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Kilumets is one of four returning starters for the Braves. Alcorn also brings back sophomore
Suyash Gupta who played No. 2 singles, junior
Nuno Rocha at No. 5 singles and sophomore
Ivan Matas at No. 6 singles.
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Alcorn added a pair of freshmen in
Johnatan Parat from Metz, France and
Stojan Stojanovski from Ohrid, Macedonia.
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The Braves advanced to the semifinals at last year's SWAC Championships before dropping a nail-biter to Jackson State 4-3. The men have won eight championships, all under head coach
Anthony Dodgen who enters his 21st season at the helm.
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Ole Miss has four singles players ranked top-100 nationally and one doubles team ranked top-20. The Rebels brought back five starters from a team that went 17-10, 6-6 SEC last year.
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The Alcorn women's team will open the season Tuesday when it travels to West Alabama for a 2 p.m. start.
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#FearTheBrave
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