Men’s Tennis Picked to Finish Second, Receives First-Place Vote in Big South Preseason Poll

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Radford men's tennis program was selected to finish second for the second straight season in the Big South's 2023 preseason poll, the league announced Tuesday afternoon.

The reigning Big South tournament champions owned a 14-8 record last season and narrowly missed a perfect conference record going 6-1 in the Big South. The team placed second in the regular season standings and went on to defeat the regular season champions Campbell 4-3 in the Big South Championship.

Radford received one first-place vote, their third straight season earning first-place votes in the preseason poll. While the team will be replacing a veteran leader in Andres Silva, all other players return from last season's team.

Demis Taramonlis, the 2022 Big South Player of the Year, makes his return for one last ride with the Highlanders in his senior season. Dinos Raptis looks to stay hot entering his senior season with the Highlanders as well. Juniors Guilherme Severin and Aditya Balsekar, staples of the last pair of successful seasons with Radford, also return.

Robert Hagen will look to build off a strong freshman campaign in his return to the squad while Raphael Mujan and Manfredi Vergine look to build off impressive fall season. Filippo Marangoni is currently the lone newcomer to the team but had an eye-catching Fall tournament season in his red and white debut.

The 2023 complete schedule can be found HERE. Radford has recently added two more matches to their exciting schedule. On Feb. 5th, the team travels to Charlottesville, Va. to face the defending national champions Virginia at 5 p.m. On March 28th Radford will host senior day against Charleston (W.V.) at 1 p.m. and will honor their two seniors Taramonlis and Raptis.

The 2023 campaign kicks off in just 10 days for the Highlanders as they will face Wake Forest in a 2022 NCAA Tournament First Round rematch. The doubleheader match is set to begin at 3:30 p.m. at Wake Forest on January 20th.

2023 BIG SOUTH MEN'S TENNIS PRESEASON POLL

Rk	Team (first-place votes)	1	2	3	4	5	6	Points
1.	Presbyterian (3)	3	2	1	-	-	-	32
2.	Radford (1)	1	3	1	-	1	-	27
3.	Campbell (1)	1	-	4	1	-	-	25
4.	Gardner-Webb (1)	1	-	-	3	2	-	19
5.	UNC Asheville	-	1	-	2	2	1	16
6.	Longwood	-	-	-	-	1	5	7

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Players Mentioned

Andres Silva: 5' 8"; Senior

Aditya Balsekar: 6' 1"; Junior

Robert Hagen: 5' 9"; Sophomore

Guilherme Severin: 5' 8"; Junior

Demis Taramonlis: 6' 2"; Senior

Manfredi Vergine: 6' 2"; Sophomore

Filippo Marangoni: 5' 11"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

Andres Silva
: 5' 8"; Senior

Aditya Balsekar
: 6' 1"; Junior

Robert Hagen
: 5' 9"; Sophomore

Guilherme Severin
: 5' 8"; Junior

Demis Taramonlis
: 6' 2"; Senior

Manfredi Vergine
: 6' 2"; Sophomore

Filippo Marangoni
: 5' 11"; Freshman