Annville, PA (January 26, 2024) – The DeSales University men’s tennis team was selected third in the MAC Freedom preseason poll announced by the conference office on Friday morning and as voted on by the eight MAC Freedom coaches.
DSU finished with 25 points, just two points behind Lebanon Valley in second with 27 points. Stevens took the top spot with six first place votes and 36 points. FDU-Florham rounded out the top four with 22 points.
DeSales is coming off a 9-6 season in 2022-23 and a 5-2 mark in the MAC Freedom. DSU earned the #3 seed in the MAC Freedom postseason before losing to FDU-Florham in the semifinals.
DeSales returns four of its top six singles players from last season including seniors Augie Citrone, Philip Ritchie, and Aiden Kiernan who each earned All-MAC Freedom Conference honors last season. Citrone was named to the All-MAC Freedom First-Team and posted a 8-8 record in the #1 singles spot. Ritchie earned All-MAC Freedom Second-Team honors last season and was 13-3 in the #2 singles spot. Ritchie also teamed with Citrone to post a 12-5 record in the #1 doubles spot. Kiernan received Honorable-Mention All-MAC Freedom honors finishing 9-1 at the #3 singles spot last season.
Graduate student Mark Sherrill returns for the Bulldogs having posted a 6-3 record in the #4 spot.
Rick Farris will be leading the Bulldogs in his second season as the Head Coach.
The Bulldogs 2024 spring schedule gets underway on March 14th with a road match against Neumann University. The home opener is on Wednesday, March 20th when DSU hosts Messiah University. The MAC Freedom schedule begins on Saturday, April 6th when the Bulldogs host King’s College.
MAC Freedom Preseason Poll
1 – Stevens – 36 (6)
2 – Lebanon Valley – 27
3 – DeSales – 25
4 – FDU-Florham – 22
5 – King’s – 17
6 – Arcadia – 14
7 – Misericordia – 6