CAMDEN — SAU Sports Information
The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) recently announced its All-American selections after a spring championship season cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the 23 individuals named an ITA DII Men’s Singles All-American was Mulerider sophomore Marko Nikoliuk, while the SAU Doubles team of sophomore Yuri Gondouin and senior Aleksandr Pokusaev were named an ITA DII Men’s Doubles All-American.
The trio becomes the first Division II All-Americans for the Muleriders in the program’s young Division II Era (1995-96). They are the first men’s tennis players to receive the sports’ top honor since Paolo Pezzoli earned NAIA All-America honors in 1989.
Despite a spring semester cut short with the Muleriders owning a 5-2 record overall and a 2-0 mark in MIAA/GAC play, Nikoliuk’s 2019-20 campaign was one to remember as the Kakhovka, Ukraine, native advanced to the final of the ITA Oklahoma City Regional in early October and earned an at-large bid for the ITA Cup in Rome, Georgia.
His road to the final of the ITA Regional event saw the six-foot, three-inch second-year player advance through five opponents including four from the Great American Conference before falling in three sets in the finals. In his first round matchup at the ITA Cup, Nikoliuk knocked off fellow All-American and No. 11 ranked Serdar Bojadjiev of West Florida 6-2, 6-4, before falling to a pair of top eight nationally ranked players in No. 2 Alvaro Regalado of Columbus State and No. 8 Dario Huber of UIndy; both of which are 2019-20 Division II ITA All-Americans.
In the final Oracle/ITA Division II Men’s Individual Rankings released on April 15, Nikoliuk checked in at No. 9 in the Central Region. He finished the spring at 3-3 with two three-set losses. On February 27, Nikoliuk earned the program’s first ever MIAA/GAC South Division Player of the Week honor after he topped Southwest Baptist’s David Szeri, the No. 8 ranked player in the Midwest Region, 7-6 (7-1), 7-6 (7-3) at singles #2. Nikoliuk teamed up with classmate Yuri Gondouin to defeat SBU’s Adham Gaber and Youssef Nabil 7-5 at doubles #2. His efforts helped Southern Arkansas knock off the #13 ranked Bearcats 4-1; the highest ranked opponent defeated by the Muleriders’ in the program’s short NCAA history.
The doubles team of Gondouin and Pokusaev joined Nikoliuk at the ITA Cup after the duo advanced to the doubles title match at the ITA Oklahoma City Regional. The pair won four matches, including its final two over Southeastern Oklahoma State foes, before falling 5-7, 4-6 to fellow DII ITA All-Americans Andrea Zamurri and Fabien Calloud of Northwest Missouri State.
At the ITA Cup, Gondouin and Pokusaev rallied to top fellow doubles All-Americans Tobias Lentz and Michele Fenoaltea of Concordia College (NY) 3-6, 7-5, 1-0 (9), before falling in a pair of tight matches to ITA doubles All-Americans Axel Cronje and Adam Elliget of Lander (4-6, 6-7 (5)) and Daniel Belsito and Josep Canyadell of Wingate (7-6 (3), 2-6, 0-1 (2)).