April 16, 2011
CLINTON - The Wolfpack finished the 2011 season with an 8-4 record and placing fifth in the MACJC State Tournament. The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) has ranked the Wolfpack No. 27 nationally. Individually, freshmen Marko Knezevic of Zadar, Croatia, is ranked No. 22 in singles, teammate Mario Huljev is ranked No. 57. Both are ranked No. 40 in doubles by the ITA.
After spraining his ankle in a match on March 30, Knezevic showed a lot of heart in hobbling to a 6-2, 6-2 first round win over Northeast’s Preston Wade. He limped into the semifinal’s to face defending State Champ Ethan Wilkerson (Australian soph) of Itawamba, losing in a good effort 6-1, 6-3.
“Marko is the best player I’ve coached in my 33 years," said Men's Tennis Coach Mike McIntyre. "He’s a great kid with a huge heart and big-time tennis game, but he’s also a great student in the classroom. We can only wonder what would have happened if he had not injured the ankle.”
At No. 2 singles, Mario Huljev was seeded No. 4 and blasted Northeast’s Ben Ford in the first round 6-0, 6-1. As luck would have it, Huljev played the eventual state champ in the semifinal’s, losing to Jones County’s Nick Williams of Melbourne, Australia, in a tough match 6-3, 7-6 (11-9).
“I was very proud of Mario’s effort, especially when he fought off triple match point down 6-5 to force the tiebreak. He even had a couple of set points in the tie-break, but the Aussie freshman pulled it out in the extended breaker," said McIntyre.
“Even though our tennis team initially had ten guys on the roster, we had lots of problems in coming up with a steady line-up," McIntyre said. "One of our original guys we had counted on for No. 3 singles (and a strong doubles player) had to give up his position due to his heavy Fine Arts music program commitments." But Levi Weeks (two knee surgeries in two years due to soccer injuries) stepped up to face the No. 2 seed defending state champion Wesley Raines of Itawamba in the first round and was ousted 6-0, 6-0.
Freshman Matt Hart (No. 4 singles) wound up with one of the tournament’s worst draws, losing a coin-flip for the 4th seed in his singles bracket. Matt had beaten the No. 3 seed from Northeast in a regular season match, but lost in a super tie-breaker to the MS Gulf Coast’s No. 4 singles. After the argument was settled by a coin-flip, the unseeded Hart was forced to play the No. 2 seed Armand Deniakos of Jones County (a soph who played #2 singles for Jones last season) in the first round, losing to one of the more consistent players in the tournament.
“I was very proud of the progress Matt made in singles during his freshman season."
Franklin County sophomore Joey Shelton upset Jones County's Josh Agee 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 at No. 5 singles. He then lost to Hinds 6-3, 7-5.
“I’m really going to miss Joey next year. He was our Team Captain this spring. I admire all he’s done for us in the last two seasons, but I admire Joey much more for what he’s about to do with his life... joining the U.S. Marines in August.”
At No. 6 singles, sophomore Jon McLeod fell to Northeast's Matt Murphy 6-4, 6-2.
“Joey, Jon, and Levi are all great examples of why I still love my tennis coaching job after 33 seasons," said McIntyre. "All three guys had very little tennis experience just over a year ago, but have become very competitive players."
| Doubles | |||||||||
| No. 1 | Ethan Wilkerson/Leonard Prudencio (ICC) | def. | Mario Huljev/Joey Shelton (CL) | 8-4 | |||||
| No. 2 | Marko Knezevic/Matt Hart (CL) | def. | Matt Murphy/Brandon Gardner (NE) | 6-2, 6-2 | |||||
| Semifinals | Nick Williams/Armand Deniakos (JC) | def. | Marko Knezevic/Matt Hart (CL) | 6-3, 7-6 | |||||
| No. 3 | Carter Griffin/Nathan Storm (GC) | def. | Levi Weeks/Jon McLeod (CL) | 6-1, 6-0 | |||||
