From Emory University Athletics
The Emory University men's tennis team opens the 2016-17 campaign this weekend when the squad travels to Sewanee, Tennessee, to compete in the ITA South Region Championships. Action begins on Friday, Sept. 30 and runs through Sunday.
The event will feature top players from Division III schools in the region. The singles and doubles champions from this weekend's tournament advance to the Oct. 13-16 ITA Oracle Cup (formerly the Small College Championships) in Surprise, Arizona.
Emory is represented with eight players in the Main Singles Draw, with sophomore Jonathan Jemison (Marietta, GA) slotted as the No. 1 seed and senior Aman Manji (Sammamish, WA) the No. 3 seed. Jemison hammered out a 27-5 singles mark last season en route to earning ITA National Rookie of the Year honors, while Manji, a First Team All-University Association selection, crafted a 20-6 singles effort. Other Eagles in the Main Draw include senior Josh Goodman (Weston, FL), juniors Scott Rubinstein (Madison, CT) and Alec Josepher (Tampa, FL), sophomore Adrien Bouchet (Oakton, VA), and freshmen Hassan Kenawi (Katy, TX) and Rex Serituk (St. Louis, MO).
Emory will be looking to continue its success in singles at this weekend's competition as it has claimed nine of the past 10 champions.
The Eagles will have four entries in the singles "B" Draw with junior David Omsky (Aventura, FL), junior Max Renke (Heidelberg, Germany), sophomore James Spaulding (Winnetka, IL) and freshman Harry Shepherd (Ridgewood, NJ) taking part.
Emory will have five doubles teams competing in the Main Draw of that competition with Rubinstein and Spaulding seeded No. 1. The Rubinstein/Spaulding combo earned All-America honors last season, finishing with an overall mark of 19-13 including a 16-10 ledger at the No. 1 position.
Besides Emory, other schools with competing players include: Belhaven, Centre, Covenant College, LaGrange College, Sewanee, North Carolina Wesleyan, Birmingham-Southern, Methodist, Oglethorpe, Rhodes, Millsaps College, Berry College and Piedmont.