ELKINS, W. Va --

Coming off a fall season which featured a dominant regional win over Shepherd and a pair of heartbreaking 4-3 decisions at the hands of two PSAC schools, the Davis & Elkins Men's Tennis team aims to plant their footing in the Mountain East Conference and Atlantic Region in their first season in the MEC.

The Senators will feature a roster of five juniors, who all return with significant experience over the last two seasons, and will supplement with one sophomore and one freshman in the mix for the starting lineup during Head Coach Jay Evans' third season at the helm.

Obert Matthew Mulyadi will return as the team's #1 singles player, a position he's held in each of his first two seasons for the Senators, including his 2018 G-MAC Freshman of the Year campaign. Mulyadi is currently ranked #19 in the Atlantic Region in singles, and went 3-0 in dual matches during the fall season.

Mulyadi will be flanked by fellow junior Alejandro Meseguer, who teams with Mulyadi for the Atlantic Region's #8 ranked doubles pairing, and Andrew Shand, a 2018 G-MAC 2nd Team honoree. Meseguer has primarily played #2 singles in each of his first two seasons, while Shand paired with Alvaro Legoinha at #1 doubles in 2019.

Legoinha, along with juniors Jacob Bowman and Cody Turner and freshman Hussain Hamide will fill the remaining slots in the lineup for D&E. Turner finished 2019 with the best winning percentage on the team, while Bowman and Hamide have made vast improvements since the fall season.

D&E will open up their schedule with a weekend in Bristol, Tenn., taking on two Conference Carolinas opponents in King on Friday and Lees-McRae on Saturday. A Spring Break trip to Florida features matches with #24 Embry-Riddle, former G-MAC rival Walsh, Eckerd, and NAIA's Ave Maria, as well as a meeting with regional opponent Johnson C. Smith on the trip down in Charlotte, N.C. An unfamiliar foe in Virginia State will bring the Senators back to action on Wednesday, March 18th in regional play, ahead of March 21st's match-up with Bluefield State, the Atlantic Region's top ranked team.

A daunting stretch of six MEC matches in ten days awaits the Senators, including a back-to-back with Charleston and Fairmont State, the preseason #2 and #3 squads, to kick off conference play on March 30th and 31st.

D&E will return home to host West Virginia State, Frostburg State, and Salem from April 2nd to 5th, with the Salem match scheduled for a Code Red Match.

Back on the road sees matches with West Liberty (April 7th), who has narrowly edged the Senators in each of the past two seasons, and preseason MEC favorite West Virginia Wesleyan on April 9th.

The Senators will close their regular season with three more home matches, hosting Bluefield College on April 11th, Concord on April 18th, and Shaw on April 20th. The meeting with Shaw will mark the first match-up in program history between the two schools, before the following weekend's MEC Championships in Charleston.

"There's a lot for us to be excited about going into this season, as we return nearly every player from last season's team while making the move to the MEC. Our top of the lineup will be as dangerous as any, and our depth is vastly improved from last season and will be capable of surprising some people," said Head Coach Jay Evans.

"We've put together a really solid schedule, as we'll see most of the top ten teams in the region, and competitive non-conference matches that will test us and more than prepare us for the MEC schedule," added Evans.

D&E will open up their spring season on Friday, taking on King University in Bristol, Tenn. at 2:00 P.M. at Bristol Racquet and Fitness Club.