CEDAR CITY, Utah -- For the first time in program history, Southern Utah men's tennis team qualified for the Big sky Conference Championship Tournament which will be held in Phoenix, Ariz. starting April 26 and will end April 28.

Season Recap

In previous seasons, the Thunderbirds did not record more than 4 wins on a season, with the first four seasons not winning a match. This season, with a team completely made up of underclassmen, that dry spell has been blown out of the water.

The T-Birds ended the regular season with 15 wins and 9 losses, more than tripling their wins from last year (at one point the team held an eight match win streak). This season, for the first time in program history, Jonathan Morales was awarded a Big Sky Player of the Week award.

Pablo Guerra leads the team in the singles competition with 16 wins and six losses. Teammates Guy Feigin and Agustin Tamagnone follow, both posting records of 15 wins and seven losses. Jose Ortega ended the regular season with 12 wins and seven losses and Jonathan Morales marked 12 wins and 10 losses.

Doubles teams Guy Feigin and Pablo Guerra along with Conor Tordoff and Jonathan Morales post the best record in the doubles competition, both with 12 wins and six losses.

Southern Utah  will enter the Big Sky tournament as the No. 6 seed.

Big Sky Conference Championship Tournament

To start the tournament off, No. 6 Southern Utah University will take on No. 3 Montana in the first Quarterfinal Match of the day on Thursday, April 26 at 1 p.m. (PT) at the Phoenix Tennis Center in Phoenix, Ariz.

The winner of this match will go on to play the No. 1 Vandals of the University of Idaho on Friday, April 27 at 1 p.m. (PT).

Big Sky Championship: Opponent Preview

The Montana Grizzlies finished off their 2016-2017 season with 14 wins and nine losses and ended the regular season with a record of 12 wins and five losses. Five of their total seven players are upperclassmen with the majority of them being international students. They boast talent from British Columbia, Greece, Germany, Spain and Sweden.

Last season, senior Ignacio Tejerina from Madrid, Spain marked an impressive record, leading the team with 22 wins and 11 losses.

Similarly, junior Alexander Canellopoulos from Greece and former Grizzly Jacob Schoenherr recorded 20 wins and 11 losses, which led the team in the doubles competition.

2017-18 will mark Jason Brown's first season as interim head coach for the Montana Grizzlies. Brown was elevated to interim head coach in the summer of 2017 after veteran head coach Kris Nord retired from tennis after 35 years to coach Montana's golf team.

Words from Coach Pucher

Looking towards the Big Sky tournament with excitement and optimism, head coach Sadhaf Pucher commented, "Qualifying for the Big Sky Championships this season is a testament to the hard work our young men have put in this past year. Perhaps more importantly it's huge for the long term growth of our program. This is a young team who is learning how to compete and win at a high level. The expectation for future years has now been set. We are excited to play Montana in the first round. They have 4 seniors, made the finals of the tournament last year and this is their 28th appearance at the Big Sky Conference Tournament. We have nothing to lose but everything to gain, it will be a great match."

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