SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Illinois State men's tennis team was picked to finish fifth in the upcoming Summit League season according to the preseason poll of league head coaches announced Thursday.
Defending Summit League regular season men's tennis champion Denver is favored to take home the regular season title, as the Pioneers look to take home their sixth regular season title in seven years. Not far behind was defending league tournament champion Drake, who claimed the No. 2 spot with a total of 30 points and one first-place vote.
Omaha picked up the final first-place vote and 22 points to tie for third place with Valparaiso. Illinois State (14) took the No. 5 spot as Oral Roberts (11) and North Dakota (11) tied for the No. 6 spot to round out the poll.
In addition to the league's preseason poll, ISU freshman Nam Pham was selected as a Summit League Player to Watch for the upcoming spring season. Pham rounded out a strong fall campaign by winning a White Flight finals match at the Redbird Invitational in early November to secure a title. Nam Pham was ranked as high as No. 27 in the United States under in the under-18 age group and was rated as a 5-star recruit on tennisrecruiting.net. He was also ranked No. 1 in USTA Missouri Valley region and captured two Summer Sweet 16 championships as well as the National Open Champion title prior to coming to Illinois State.
The Redbirds open the 2020 spring campaign on Wednesday, Jan. 15, when they head north to Chicago to face Northwestern in a mid-week matchup.
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