Men's Tennis is Picked Sixth in HCAC Poll

GREENWOOD, IND. – The Defiance College men's tennis team was picked to finish sixth in the 2016 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches Poll.

The Yellow Jackets received 41 points to finish in the sixth spot. Rose-Hulman (Ind.) Institute of Technology was unanimously picked as the favorite, receiving all nine first-place votes (81 points). Earlham (Ind.) College was second with 71 points and Transylvania (Ky.) University rounded out the top three with 55 points.  

DC also had three players named to the "Players to Watch" list in sophomore Adam Swisher (Bedford, Mich. /Bedford) and juniors James Demeo (Oregon/Clay) and Tory Savage (Bryan).

Swisher was selected to the HCAC All-Sportsmanship Team following a season that ended with an 11-6 overall singles record and an 8-10 overall doubles record in 2015. Swisher played at the fourth, fifth and sixth singles spots and the second and third doubles spots.

Demeo returns as an All-HCAC award winner last season. He was selected as HCAC "Player of the Week" once and finished with an overall singles record of 11-6, where he played the second spot the entire season. He also finished 10-8 in doubles play at the first and second doubles slots.

Savage finished the 2015 campaign with an 8-8 record overall in singles play at the third, fourth, fifth and sixth singles spots. He also finished with an overall doubles record of 9-9 at the two and three spots.

The Yellow Jackets will begin the 2016 season on Saturday, Feb. 27 against Thomas More (Ky.) College and Muskingum University in a tri-match which will be held on the Defiance College campus. Start time has yet to be announced.