Utica, NY – The Utica College men's tennis team is scheduled to kick-off its season on Saturday, as the team travels to face Empire 8 opponent Elmira College. The match is set to begin at 1 p.m.

2017 Season Highlights: Last season the Pioneers finished with an overall mark of 1-11 and went 0-8 in Empire 8 competition. UC earned its only win of the year in the first match of the season against Sage, 8-1. Christopher Dunn (Schenectady, NY/) won the first singles match 6-3, 6-3 while teammate Paul Litvak (Brooklyn, NY/Abraham Lincoln) clinched a win in the third singles heat with set scores of 6-1 and 7-4. Dunn and Litvak teamed up in doubles competition to earn the 8-6 win in the first doubles match. Patrick Restuccio (Clermont, FL/Legacy Charter) and Luc Boby (Chicago, IL/Kalamazoo (NAHL)) worked together to achieve an 8-3 win in third doubles.

Guess Who's Back: The 2018 roster welcomes back five returners from last season. Garrett Bortiatynski (Rome, NY/Holland Patent) and Paul Litvak (Brooklyn, NY/Abraham Lincoln) make up the juniors featured on this year's squad. Returning seniors for this year includes Austyn Diller (Tappan, NY/Tappan Zee), Patrick Restuccio (Clermont, FL/Legacy Charter), and Alfonzo Whitehurst (Baldwinsville, NY/Baldwinsville). The team will be led by head coach John Nigro, who is in his 31st year at the helm of the UC men's and women's tennis programs.

Welcome to the Team: UC is welcoming freshmen Christian Carman (), Ben Gilroy (), Troy Kim (), and Joshua Palmer (Southington, CT/Wilcox Technical) to the team, as the only underclassmen on the 2018 men's tennis roster. After missing out on last season, Franklin Guevara (Utica, NY/Proctor) has come back to the team for his senior campaign. Matthew McCoy (Sherrill, NY/Vernon Verona Sherrill), another senior, is another new addition to UC's roster heading into the season opener.

Scouting Elmira: The Soaring Eagles have three new faces on their roster in Ravi Chauma, Frank Endieveri III, and Zackarie Stedge. The team returned Yaniv Kogan, Stephen Gervase, Patrick Tracey, and Jordan Curtis from the 2017 roster. The program is also welcoming a new head coach to the scene, as Rob Clayton will take over for his first year as Elmira's head coach in 2018. The team is currently 0-2 heading into the weekend matchup, suffering losses to Oneonta and Oswego. The Soaring Eagles face off against the Pennsylvania College of Technology on Friday for a chance at their first win of the year before hosting UC on Saturday.

Looking Ahead: The Pioneers are back in action on April 6th for another Empire 8 contest, as this time they will face the Golden Flyers from Nazareth College at home. The match is scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m. that Friday.