The William Jewell men's tennis team has been selected for a fifth place finish in the Great Lakes Valley Conference West Division Preseason Poll, the league announced Thursday. The GLVC Men's Tennis Preseason Poll was voted on by the league head coaches and ranks eight teams in the East and six squads in the West as 14 of the 16 member schools sponsor the sport.
The Cardinals are led into the 2020 season by sophomore
Pedro Braga who led the Cardinals with a 10-6 mark a year ago, playing at primarily at No. 1 and 2 singles as a true freshman. He debuted last season with a 6-0 start, the best for any Cardinal in the NCAA era. Leading doubles play is senior
Bjorn Myers and junior
Cutter Sanders who last season teamed up for a 7-9 record at No. 1 doubles.
The University of Indianapolis and Drury University have again been selected to win the East and West Divisions, respectively. Indianapolis (17-6, 5-0 GLVC in 2019) was chosen as the favorite to repeat as the East champions with 104 total points, earning 13 of the 14 possible first-place votes, as Conference policy prohibits coaches from casting a vote for their own team. Drury went 6-0 in GLVC play last season to win the division and 17-6 overall, earning seven first-place votes and 72 points for its sixth-straight top selection in the West preseason.
New Conference member Southwest Baptist University earned the other half of the first-place votes in the West and 70 points – just two behind Drury – for second in the poll. The University of Missouri-St. Louis tallied 54 points and third position in the West Division while Rockhurst University (42) was fourth, William Jewell (28) claimed fifth, and Quincy University (22) came in at No. 6 to complete the field.
The 2020 GLVC Men's Tennis Championship Tournament will be held at the Cooper Tennis Complex from April 24-26 in Springfield, Mo.
The complete 2020 GLVC Men's Tennis Preseason Coaches Poll follows below.
| 2020 GLVC MEN'S TENNIS PRESEASON POLL – EAST DIVISION |
| Place |
School |
Points (First-Place Votes) |
| 1 |
Indianapolis |
104 (13) |
| 2 |
Lewis |
88 (1) |
| 3 |
Maryville |
70 |
| 4 |
Illinois Springfield |
59 |
| 5 |
Southern Indiana |
58 |
| 6 |
Lindenwood |
43 |
| 7 |
McKendree |
39 |
| 8 |
Bellarmine |
35 |
| 2019 GLVC MEN'S TENNIS PRESEASON POLL – WEST DIVISION |
| Place |
School |
Points (First-Place Votes) |
| 1 |
Drury |
76 (7) |
| 2 |
Southwest Baptist |
70 (7) |
| 3 |
Missouri-St. Louis |
54 |
| 4 |
Rockhurst |
42 |
| 5 |
William Jewell |
28 |
| 6 |
Quincy |
22 |
