BU Collects Pair of First-Place Votes in PL Poll
January 16, 2015 | Men's Tennis
CENTER VALLEY, Pa. - Highlighted by a pair of first-place votes, the Boston University men's tennis team was selected to finish fourth in the Patriot League preseason poll, the conference announced Friday afternoon.
The head coach and sports information contact from each school participated in the poll but were unable to vote for their own team.
Army, which went 7-0 in the Patriot League in the regular season last year and also captured the conference tournament crown, topped the men's poll with 124 points and 12 first-place votes to come in ahead of Navy with 114 points and four first-place votes. Lehigh, the 2013 champion, was next with 93 points, edging the Terriers by one point. Bucknell (72), Colgate (63), Loyola Maryland (44), Lafayette (30) and Holy Cross (16) completed the poll order.
Guided by head coach Dejan Stankovic, BU returns seven players from a squad that went 9-10 and missed out on the conference tournament final by just one point. The Terriers went 4-1 in league play and opened the PL tourney with a 4-0 win over Loyola Maryland before falling to Navy, 4-3.
Sophomores Lucas Bombonatti and Jay Leelavanich both earned singles wins over the Midshipmen at the No. 5 and 6 slots to finish the season with a combined 27-10 singles record.
Senior Emilio Teran, junior Stefan Lemire and sophomore Mario Sandoval also return after finishing with double-digit singles wins last year.
BU opens the dual schedule at the BU Track & Tennis Center against Sacred Heart on Sunday, Jan. 25, with the conference tournament set for April 16-19 at Bucknell.
2015 Patriot League Preseason Men's Tennis Poll
1. Army (12 first-place votes) - 124 points
2. Navy (4) - 114
3. Lehigh - 93
4. Boston U. (2) - 92
5. Bucknell - 72
6. Colgate - 63
7. Loyola Maryland - 44
8. Lafayette - 30
9. Holy Cross - 16
