SARASOTA, Fla. – New College of Florida Men's and Women's Tennis will enter their second spring seasons nationally ranked, with the men checking in at No. 14 and the women earning the first national ranking in program history at No. 25 in the NAIA preseason polls.
The rankings mark another milestone for the Mighty Banyans under head coach Erin Bryce and associate head coach Travis Eckert, who return for their second year leading both programs. The men follow an inaugural season that included an NAIA National Tournament appearance as the No. 15 seed, while the women break into the national rankings following a five-win debut campaign.
NCF Men's Tennis finished its first spring with a 9-9 overall record and a 5-2 Sun Conference mark, placing third in the conference standings. The Mighty Banyans defeated SCAD in the Sun Conference Tournament quarterfinals and advanced to the semifinals before earning an at-large bid to the NAIA National Championship.
NCF entered the national tournament seeded 15th in the 24-team field before falling 4-3 to No. 18 seed Arizona Christian in the opening round in Mobile, Alabama. The Mighty Banyans subsequently finished No. 21 in the final NAIA Coaches' Top 25 Poll.
Timothy Phung headlines an experienced returning group after becoming the first ITA All-American in NCF tennis history last spring. The Bradenton native earned second-team All-Sun Conference honors and finished No. 20 in the ITA national singles rankings while competing at the top of the Mighty Banyans' lineup. Phung also delivered a singles victory in NCF's national tournament debut, joining Carlos Quinones and Hugo Fidler in earning wins against Arizona Christian.
Alongside Phung, Quinones and Fidler, the Mighty Banyans return Paul Balon, Matteo Barcia, Sebastian Chacon Munoz, Patrick Janikian, Konstantin Kukaras and Pedro Lemos, providing continuity throughout the roster heading into year two.
Newcomers Franciso Duran and Kacper Laskowski added to that foundation with a strong fall doubles campaign. The pair reached the semifinals of the ITA NAIA Florida Regional Championship, earning an 8-3 victory over SCAD's Yu Dian Dong and Gonzalo Lopez Aliaga before defeating Keiser's Oliver King and Andrew Alec Reznik 8-4 in the quarterfinals.
Their regional performance earned an at-large selection to the ITA Cup in Rome, Georgia, where they defeated Morningside's Mathys Arnold and Marcos Menendez Hervella 6-3, 7-6 (8-6) to advance to the national quarterfinals. Duran, a junior transfer from Saint Mary's College in California, and Laskowski, a freshman from Northampton, England, finished among the final eight teams in the NAIA men's doubles draw.
NCF Women's Tennis enters its second spring looking to build on a 5-12 inaugural season, with Camila Cardona-Carballosa, Madeleine Chellas, Itza Rogel and Emilia Schulte returning to lead the program's first nationally ranked team.
Chellas returns after earning second-team All-Sun Conference honors and the conference's Champions of Character Award last spring. The Miami native competed at the No. 1 singles position and held the No. 38 spot in the ITA NAIA national singles rankings when the conference announced its postseason awards April 20. Her return gives the Mighty Banyans an established contributor at the top of the lineup as they look to build on their inaugural season.
Both programs will again compete in a nationally competitive Sun Conference. NCF is one of five conference teams ranked in the men's preseason Top 25, joining No. 3 Keiser, No. 4 Southeastern, No. 15 St. Thomas and No. 21 Coastal Georgia. The women are one of six ranked Sun Conference programs, alongside No. 1 Keiser, No. 6 Southeastern, No. 11 SCAD, No. 12 Coastal Georgia and No. 17 St. Thomas.
Bryce and Eckert will look to guide the men back to the national tournament while helping the women build on their first Top 25 ranking when spring competition begins.
