USI Screaming Eagles | Men's Tennis

USI Men's Tennis 2003-04 Outlook

GLVC Regular Season Champions: 1994, 1998, 1999, 2000
GLVC Tournament Champions: 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
NCAA II Tournament: 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003

If consistency is the sign of a top program, then University of Southern Indiana men’s tennis program should be listed near the top.

The Screaming Eagles have been appeared in four straight NCAA Division II Tournaments, been regionally ranked for the past five seasons, have won the GLVC Tournament four of the last five years, and have been in the GLVC Tournament championship match the past six seasons. This is the picture of a top-notch program.

USI, which was in its first year under the direction of head coach Ross Brown, had a strong second half after a slow start in 2002-03. The Eagles won nine of the last 14 matches after starting the season with a 1-5 against a schedule that included four NCAA Division I teams.

In 2003-04, the five returning Eagles will have a travel a rough road to remain among the nation’s elite. Top among the holes to fill is the departure of Bhavesh Chadda and Paulus Halim. Chadda led the way in GLVC action, going 6-0 at number three singles, while Halim was 13-9 overall and 10-6 at number one singles.

Leading the returners on the squad is senior Weston Phillips (Henderson, Kentucky), who was USI’s top winner for the third straight season. He was 15-6 overall, 5-1 in the GLVC, and was 12-3 at number two singles.

Phillips has 63 career wins and needs just 16 victories to tie Ethan Davis’ all-time USI record of 79 singles wins. He also will need to find a new doubles partner with the departure of Chadda. The pair, who was named All-GLVC, combined to be USI’s top doubles team at number two. The pair was 18-8 overall and 5-2 in the league.

The Eagles will look for more production from sophomore Ryan Hughes (England). Hughes, who played through the season with a knee injury, finished the year with a 5-6 record in singles and a 6-8 doubles mark. If Hughes fully recovers during the off-season, he is the likely candidate to replace Chadda at number three singles.

The one plus that came out of Hughes’ injury was the increased playing time for junior Evan Luttrell (Logansport, Indiana). Luttrell was 3-3 at number six singles and recorded a 5-5 record overall.

Looking to see more action in 2003-04 with graduation of Paulus Halim and Chadda are senior Sam Tucker (Evansville, Indiana) and junior Shaun Skelton (Evansville, Indiana). Both saw action in doubles matches.

New to the squad in 2003-04 is freshman Joe Epkey (Greenwood, Indiana). Epkey comes to USI after lettering in tennis all four seasons at Center Grove High School in Greenwood, Indiana.

He was named All-State twice singles action and twice in doubles play and helped lead Center Grove to the Indiana state championship in 2001 and 2002 and to the Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference titles in three of his four seasons.

Along with Epkey, Coach Brown and the Eagles have added juniors Nim Shetty (India), Scott Foster (Newburgh, Indiana), and Kyle Taylor (Veedersburg, Indiana); and freshmen Coby Botha (England), Blaine Craft (Knox, Indiana), and Eric Jordan (Newburgh, Indiana).

Shetty is a transfer from Tyler Junior College in Tyler, Texas, which won the NJCAA national championship in 2003. He also ranked 31st nationally in the NJCAA as a sophomore.

2002-03 Fall Preview

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