MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Southern States Athletic Conference has released the SSAC Men's Tennis Coaches' Preseason poll for the 2025-26 season, and the Loyola Wolf Pack men's tennis team was voted second in the conference.
This is the highest preseason standing for the Wolf Pack men's team since the program started in 2010. Defending 2025 conference tournament champions William Carey received all six first-place votes. UT Southern split most of the second- and third-place votes with Loyola, with the Pack receiving two more points in the poll to place the Firehawks third. Mobile, Abraham Baldwin, and Blue Mountain rounded out the six teams.
Loyola's men's team is coming off of a semifinal finish at the 2025 SSAC Championship, where the Pack lost to Carey to finish the year with an 8-10 overall record, 3-3 in conference play. The team would eventually close the season ranked No. 23 in the NAIA Top 25.
Most heavy contributors are back from the 2024-25 season, including five of the team's top six singles players. Graduate student Samuel Motazed, who mainly played in doubles, returns for a fifth year in New Orleans. He's joined by seniors Hippolyte de Preville, Sam Izrael, and Spencer Matz, juniors Martin Ashworth and Daniel Perez, and sophomores Alfredo Gallegos and Jett Nguyen.
Newcomers to the roster are freshmen Luca Abati and Patrick Teuteberg, as well as Samuel Marin, a graduate student who previously competed with the Wolf Pack from 2018-2021.
Loyola recently competed in two tournaments in the fall, the ITA Gulf Regional and Dillard University's invitational, with some impressive results in the latter tournament. The doubles pairing of Marin and Izrael debuted at the Dillard tournament and won three matches to claim the title. Matz also played well at Dillard in the singles B draw, winning four straight matches in the weekend.
2025-26 SSAC Men's Tennis Coaches' Preseason Poll
1. William Carey – 36 (6)
2. Loyola – 27
3. UT Southern – 25
4. Mobile – 16
5. ABAC – 14
6. Blue Mountain Christian – 8
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