The Presbyterian Blue Hose men’s tennis team will play against the UNC Asheville Bulldogs on April 11 at the Templeton Tennis Courts, with the match scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. The event will also serve as Senior Day, honoring seniors David Mamalat and Denim Yadav in a post-match ceremony.
This match holds significance for both teams as it marks the 23rd all-time meeting between Presbyterian and UNC Asheville. Presbyterian currently leads the series with a record of 13-9, though UNC Asheville has won their last three encounters.
Presbyterian coach Juan Pablo Boada is in his second season leading the program. The team returned three letterwinners this year: senior David Mamalat and sophomores Daksh Prasad and Eduardo Valentin. They were joined by newcomers junior Matija Samardzic, sophomore Gabriel Godoy, and freshmen Thomas Anderson, Victor Mayer, and Dario Navarro. This fall, Mamalat and Samardzic captured the doubles title at the Big South Individual Championship and reached the quarterfinals of the ITA Conference Masters Championship. All members of the Blue Hose posted singles and doubles wins during fall tournaments.
During spring competition, Samardzic leads Presbyterian with 11 singles wins while Prasad follows with ten victories. Mamalat has secured nine wins in singles matches; Valentin has eight; Navarro has six. In doubles play, Mamalat and Samardzic have collected a team-high thirteen wins together at number one doubles.
Several players have received conference honors this season. On February 25, Dario Navarro was named Big South Conference Freshman of the Week after helping secure a road win over Wofford by clinching both his doubles match (with Anderson) and his singles match that decided victory for Presbyterian. On March 4, Matija Samardzic earned Big South Conference Player of the Week honors after winning both his singles and doubles matches in a win over Chattanooga alongside partner Mamalat.
Samardzic later claimed his second Player of the Week award on April 1 after going undefeated that week in both number one singles (2-0) and number one doubles (2-0), including strong performances against Kennesaw State and Campbell.
For UNC Asheville, Jip Mens and Daniel Franco-Key lead their squad with eleven singles victories each this season while Harrison Cooper and Griffin Lovern top their team’s doubles chart with ten wins.
