Men's Tennis | 1/27/2022 11:45:00 AM
MELBOURNE, Fla. – For the ninth straight time since the poll started in 2014, the Barry Buccaneers ranked No. 1 in the 2022 Sunshine State Conference Preseason Men's Tennis Coaches' Poll. The Buccaneers, winners of eight of the last 10 SSC tournaments, received 49 total points and seven first-place votes in this year's ranking.
Saint Leo bests Lynn for second place in the poll, 41 to 36 points, but the Knights picked up the final first-place vote from coaches. Embry-Riddle 34 points place them fourth, rounding out the top half of the poll. Rollins (25 points), Florida Southern (17 points), Palm Beach Atlantic (15 points), and Eckerd (7 points) make up the second half of the coaches' ranking.
SSC teams played between six and 13 matches in an abbreviated 2021 season due to CoVID-19. Barry captured the program's fifth regular-season title following an undefeated record (6-0) in conference play. The Buccaneers went on to win a 16th conference postseason title, the school's fourth straight in men's tennis.
Barry and Saint Leo earned NCAA postseason berths in 2021. Saint Leo went 1-1 in the South Region tournament, defeating Delta State in the opener before falling to top-seeded Barry. The Buccaneers went on to defeat West Florida for the regional title. Barry went on to dispatch Northwest Missouri State, Indianapolis, and Columbus State to hoist the national championship trophy for the fifth time. BU repeated as national champions since the 2020 NCAA Division II Men's Tennis tournament was canceled due to CoVID-19
Barry, Lynn, and Rollins account for all 10 of the SSC's men's tennis national championships. The Buccaneers have won the most recent titles (2010, 2013, 2015, 2019, & 2021), while the Fighting Knights won in 2007. The remaining four championships belong to the Tars, who last won the title in 2001.
The Bucs led the conference with three players ranked in singles starting with Alejandro Ibañez Gallego, who won the ITA South Region singles title in the fall and the ITA Cup national title in 2019, ranked third. Alejandro Palacios, who clinched the national championship match in 2021 (ninth), and Alessandro Giuliato, the 2021 SSC Player of the Year and ITA All-American in singles, who ranks 25th, join him. For doubles, the team of Ignasi Forcano and Giuliato currently ranks 13th. Forcano and Martin Gutierrez, who ended the 2021 season ranked fifth, earned ITA All-America in doubles last year.
The first match of the 2022 season has Embry-Riddle hosting Keiser on Tuesday, February 1st, while the first league match will be PBA vs. Rollins in West Palm Beach on Saturday, February 5th. The composite schedule for 2022 can be found
here.
Below are the full results of the 2022 SSC preseason coaches' poll. Coaches may not vote for their teams (points: 7-6-5-4-3-2-1, first-place votes in parentheses).
| 2022 SSC MEN'S TENNIS PRESEASON COACHES POLL |
| Rank |
School (FPV) |
Total Points |
| 1 |
Barry (7) |
49 |
| 2 |
Saint Leo |
41 |
| 3 |
Lynn (1) |
36 |
| 4 |
Embry-Riddle |
34 |
| 5 |
Rollins |
25 |
| 6 |
Florida Southern |
17 |
| 7 |
Palm Beach Atlantic |
15 |
| 8 |
Eckerd |
7 |
SSC Men's Tennis History: National Champions | Conference Champions | All-SSC Teams | All-Americans
| Previous SSC Men's Tennis Polls |
|
| Year |
Predicted Winner
(Actual Finish) |
Regular Season Champ
(Preseason Prediction) |
Tournament Champ
(Preseason Prediction) |
| 2021 |
Barry (1st) |
Barry (1st) |
Barry (1st) |
| 2020 |
Barry (N/A) |
Not Awarded Due to COVID-19 |
Not Awarded Due to COVID-20 |
| 2019 |
Barry (1st) |
Barry (1st) |
Barry (1st) |
| 2018 |
Barry (2nd) |
Saint Leo (3rd) |
Barry (1st) |
| 2017 |
Barry (1st) |
Barry (1st) |
Barry (1st) |
| 2016 |
Barry (2nd) |
Saint Leo (2nd) |
Saint Leo (2nd) |
| 2015 |
Barry (1st) |
Barry (1st) |
Barry (1st) |
| 2014 |
Barry (1st) |
Barry (1st) |
Barry (1st) |
