No. 16 Men's Tennis at Bryant | 1 p.m.
vs. Nichols | 5 p.m.
Sunday, February 4 | Fore Court Racquet & Fitness Club | Cumberland, R.I.

WHAT TO KNOW
•    After playing a pair of dual matches and participating in three tournaments back in September and October, the Babson men's tennis team kicks off its spring season on Sunday afternoon in Cumberland, R.I. 

LOOKING BACK ON LAST YEAR
•    Despite falling to MIT in the NEWMAC Tournament final, the Beavers enjoyed a terrific 2022-23 campaign that included a program-record 17 wins and their third conference regular season title since 2015. 
•    Babson finished the year at 17-3 overarll and 6-0 in NEWMAC regular season play, and finished with a 5-2 against nationally-ranked opponents.
•    Head coach Michael Kopelman and associate head coach Alan Dubrovsky were selected as the NEWMAC Coaching Staff of the Year as the Green and White finished a then-program-best 18th in the final ITA Division III poll. 

SERIES HISTORY
vs. Bryant
•    Babson is 2-2 all-time against the Bulldogs in a series that dates back to the 1994-95 campaign.
•    The teams have met just once since 2001, a 4-3 Bryant victory on February 22, 2020. 

vs. Nichols
•    Babson is 5-1 all-time against the Bison in a series that dates back to 2011. 
•    The Beavers have won the last four matches between the teams, which includes defeating Nichols, 7-2, on March 18, 2019. 

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
•    No. 16 Babson (2-0) wrapped up the fall portion of its schedule at the Wesleyan Invitational back on October 14-15. 
•    First-year Logan Back went 3-1 in singles play, graduate student Jonah Wilson and junior Eshan Mukherjee both went 2-1 and first-year Kerem Ozlale was 2-2 in singles and 3-1 in doubles for the Beavers. 
•    Wilson went 9-3 overall and 2-0 at number one singles in the fall, senior Jose Gonzalez posted an 8-5 record and graduate student Andrew Watson was 6-2 overall and 1-0 in dual match play. 
•    Wilson (5-3) and sophomore Martin Mejia (6-5) went 2-0 at number one doubles, while first-year Caymus Choi was 4-2 overall and 2-0 at number two doubles. 

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
•    Bryant (3-2) snapped a two-match skid with a 4-3 victory over Merrimack last Friday. 
•    The Bulldogs earned the doubles point with wins at number one and two and followed it up with straight-set victories in singles by Agustin Suarez (No. 2), Diego Serra Sparrow (No. 4) and Myles Peterson (No. 5) to edge the Warriors. 
•    Serra Sparrow leads the team with five singles victories, which includes three in dual matches, while Suarez, Peterson, Jose Davila and Trejo have all won four times in singles. 
•    Davila owns a pair of wins at number one doubles and Suarez has recorded a trio of victories, two of which have come at No. 2. 

SCOUTING THE BISON
•    Nichols (2-4) suffered a 7-0 loss to Bryant in its spring opener back on January 20.
•    Enzo Matos Balleux split the first two sets before falling 6-3, 3-6, 6-0 at number four while the other five singles matches were decided in straight sets. 
•    Yannick De Vet is 2-1 with a pair of wins at number one singles, Matos Balleux is 3-2 overall and Kerem Subasi is 2-2 with wins at fourth and fifth singles. 
•    Matos Balleux is 3-0 at number two doubles and has picked up two of the wins playing alongside Subasi. 

VETERANS BACK FROM ABROAD
•    A key part of Babson's success over the last two seasons, the junior trio of Brady Anderson, Ole Lepsoe and Wesley Zhang all return to the lineup after studying abroad in the fall. 
•    A 2022 all-conference singles and 2023 all-league doubles selection, Anderson went 12-8 in all singles matches and 11-5 at number one doubles last year.
•    Zhang was 7-1 in singles play and 12-3 overall in doubles last season, while Lepsoe looks to return to full strength after missing nearly all of last season due to injury. He was selected as the NEWMAC Rookie of the year and garnered all-conference singles and doubles accolades back in 2022.

WILSON EARNS SPOT IN ITA RANKINGS
•    A transfer from Arizona State, Wilson enters the spring sesaon ranked 24th nationally and seventh in the East region by the ITA.
•    He advanced to the quarterfinals at the ITA New England Championships back in October and all three of his losses in the fall came in three sets. 

RISING IN THE POLLS
•    After making its way up to 18th in last season's final ITA Division III poll, Babson will begin the spring portion of its schedule with its highest ranking in program history at No. 16. 
•    Under the direction of Kopelman, who is now in his sixth season as head coach, the Beavers earned their first national ranking in the spring of 2020 prior to the pandemic and have appeared in the final national poll of the sesaon in four consecutive seasons. 

NUMBERS TO KNOW
•    Going back to the start of last season, the Beavers have led after doubles in 18 of their last 22 matches. 
•    Babson is 2-2 against Division I opponents over the last two seasons with a pair of wins against Holy Cross and two losses to Boston College. 
•    Eleven of the Beavers' 18 matches this spring will come against teams ranked in the ITA preaseason top 40. 

UP NEXT
•    Babson travels to Latham, N.Y., to face No. 29 Rensselaer on February 17.