Saturday, January 18
Denver, CO
11:00 am
Montana State University
vs
vs. UC Davis
Bobcat coach Mateus Ceolin
Photo by: Bobcat Creative Services
Bobcat Men's Tennis Team Opens New Season, Era in Colorado this Weekend
1/17/2025 3:44:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Former MSU player Mateus Ceolin leads his first team into action
BOZEMAN, Montana – More than just a new season begins when the Montana State men's tennis team plays a pair of matches in Denver, Colorado this weekend.
The matches begin a new era.
"This is the first time," first-year head coach Mateus Ceolin said of beginning a season with seven newcomers on MSU's eight-man roster, but could have also been describing his own experiences. Ceolin accepted his first head coaching position at his alma mater in mid-August, and in an accelerated timeline constructed a coaching staff and roster with the goal of competing for a Big Sky Conference title.
He knew from the beginning the challenge would be significant but the process rewarding. "We have one returner from last year, and everyone else is new," he said. "Out of eight guys, seven are new. But it's been fun and now it's time to compete."
Sophomore Andre Stewart is the team's lone returner from 2023-24. He arrived at MSU just one year ago, and enjoyed an impressive freshman campaign. His 9-12 record in the spring of 2024 included a thrilling come-from-behind win in the Cat-Griz dual that helped spark Montana State's win against the Grizzlies. He spent most of last season at the No. 3 ladder position in singles.
Stewart's ability to stack productive performances on top of each other has impressed Ceolin. "Andre's doing awesome," the first-year head coach said. "He did a phenomenal job over the preseason, and what I've seen the fall is that he's maturing a lot, he's growing up, he's understanding how to come out here and replicate good tennis day in and day out. I feel like in the fall he would have a good day and maybe two or three bad days, but right now he's able to have good days consistently. I think that takes a lot of maturity."
A mix of transfers, freshmen returning from the fall season and mid-year arrivals fill out the Bobcats roster. Graduate transfer Dmitry Bezborodov joined the program after success at Division I Monmouth and Division II Tusculum, and impressed during the fall. He was 8-6 in singles play, 8-5 in doubles, and carries a career overall singles record of 55-30 into the spring campaign.
Harrison Janes from Penn State joined the Bobcats in August and logged a 5-9 singles record during the fall season. The compilation doesn't represent Janes' arc of improvement, as he won three matches to finish second in his draw at the Gonzaga Invitational to close the fall season.
One transfer and four others arrive as freshmen this semester. Oumar Diallo joins the Cats after one semester at Bucknell, where he was 3-3 in singles play last fall. Eddie Biss, Camille Chantron, Yassin Elaroussy and Alex Vlahos all begin their first semester at MSU.
"It's certainly different," Ceolin said of building a program with seven newcomers, "but as a first-year head coach I would naturally have to do a little bit of team building so I would be getting to know the guys. But on a team like this, certainly we have done a lot of team building, a lot of peeling layers so the guys get to know each other a little bit more."
Ceolin's expectations for the Bobcats remain high in the long run, but during the early weeks of 2025 his focus lies in the foundational elements of college tennis. "I want to see the guys playing together, I want to see the guys playing as a team, I want to see the guys have extremely high energy, and I want to see the guys competing and fighting for every point," he said. "That's all I'm looking for."
Lineup construction could remain a work in progress in January and February, he said, particularly in doubles play. "It's going to be fluid," he said. "If we have doubles pairs that are going to be set it will take a little bit of time, but we have an idea of guys that will match well with each other, guys that can pay together. But it's certainly going to change in the next few weeks, maybe in the next few months."
Ceolin gained familiarity with both of this weekend's opponents during two seasons on the University of Arizona men's tennis staff. The Bobcats play UC Davis at 11 am on Saturday at the University of Denver, and Ceolin said the Aggies pose a challenge.
"UC Davis is a very good team," he said. "Last year they played tough matches against very good teams, they had a touch match against Santa Clara and got two points out of Cal Berkeley, so they're certainly a very good squad. They beat up on some Big Sky teams, they beat up on Sac State, they beat up on Idaho. The level of competition this weekend is going to be very high, and we need to be ready for it."
The Aggies finished 2023-24 with a 13-10 dual record, 3-3 in the Big West. That included wins against Big Sky co-champions Northern Arizona and Sacramento State, along with perennial league power Idaho. UC Davis opens its 2025 season against Denver on Friday.
The Cats play Denver on Sunday at 11 am at the Denver Tennis Park. The Pioneers finished the 2023-24 season with a 23-1 record, and didn't lose until the NCAA Tournament. DU finished 2023-24 ranked No. 42 nationally, and is picked to win the Summit League this season.
"Denver is a very good team," Ceolin said. "Last year they had an undefeated regular season, they went 23-0, they're very, very good. They finished the year No. 42 in the country, they lost in the NCAA Tournament to Michigan State."
While Ceolin makes his head coaching premiere this season, he has a pair of familiar faces on his staff. Dylan Harvala and Creel Smith both played for the Cats during Ceolin's time as an MSU student-athlete, although they didn't overlap with each other, and both have previous MSU experience as assistant coaches.
Live stats and video streaming are both available for this weekend's matches. The Cats make their 2025 home debut on Sunday, January 26, against North Dakota. First serve is 11 am in the Bobcat-Anderson Tennis Center.
#GoCatsGo
The matches begin a new era.
"This is the first time," first-year head coach Mateus Ceolin said of beginning a season with seven newcomers on MSU's eight-man roster, but could have also been describing his own experiences. Ceolin accepted his first head coaching position at his alma mater in mid-August, and in an accelerated timeline constructed a coaching staff and roster with the goal of competing for a Big Sky Conference title.
He knew from the beginning the challenge would be significant but the process rewarding. "We have one returner from last year, and everyone else is new," he said. "Out of eight guys, seven are new. But it's been fun and now it's time to compete."
Sophomore Andre Stewart is the team's lone returner from 2023-24. He arrived at MSU just one year ago, and enjoyed an impressive freshman campaign. His 9-12 record in the spring of 2024 included a thrilling come-from-behind win in the Cat-Griz dual that helped spark Montana State's win against the Grizzlies. He spent most of last season at the No. 3 ladder position in singles.
Stewart's ability to stack productive performances on top of each other has impressed Ceolin. "Andre's doing awesome," the first-year head coach said. "He did a phenomenal job over the preseason, and what I've seen the fall is that he's maturing a lot, he's growing up, he's understanding how to come out here and replicate good tennis day in and day out. I feel like in the fall he would have a good day and maybe two or three bad days, but right now he's able to have good days consistently. I think that takes a lot of maturity."
A mix of transfers, freshmen returning from the fall season and mid-year arrivals fill out the Bobcats roster. Graduate transfer Dmitry Bezborodov joined the program after success at Division I Monmouth and Division II Tusculum, and impressed during the fall. He was 8-6 in singles play, 8-5 in doubles, and carries a career overall singles record of 55-30 into the spring campaign.
Harrison Janes from Penn State joined the Bobcats in August and logged a 5-9 singles record during the fall season. The compilation doesn't represent Janes' arc of improvement, as he won three matches to finish second in his draw at the Gonzaga Invitational to close the fall season.
One transfer and four others arrive as freshmen this semester. Oumar Diallo joins the Cats after one semester at Bucknell, where he was 3-3 in singles play last fall. Eddie Biss, Camille Chantron, Yassin Elaroussy and Alex Vlahos all begin their first semester at MSU.
"It's certainly different," Ceolin said of building a program with seven newcomers, "but as a first-year head coach I would naturally have to do a little bit of team building so I would be getting to know the guys. But on a team like this, certainly we have done a lot of team building, a lot of peeling layers so the guys get to know each other a little bit more."
Ceolin's expectations for the Bobcats remain high in the long run, but during the early weeks of 2025 his focus lies in the foundational elements of college tennis. "I want to see the guys playing together, I want to see the guys playing as a team, I want to see the guys have extremely high energy, and I want to see the guys competing and fighting for every point," he said. "That's all I'm looking for."
Lineup construction could remain a work in progress in January and February, he said, particularly in doubles play. "It's going to be fluid," he said. "If we have doubles pairs that are going to be set it will take a little bit of time, but we have an idea of guys that will match well with each other, guys that can pay together. But it's certainly going to change in the next few weeks, maybe in the next few months."
Ceolin gained familiarity with both of this weekend's opponents during two seasons on the University of Arizona men's tennis staff. The Bobcats play UC Davis at 11 am on Saturday at the University of Denver, and Ceolin said the Aggies pose a challenge.
"UC Davis is a very good team," he said. "Last year they played tough matches against very good teams, they had a touch match against Santa Clara and got two points out of Cal Berkeley, so they're certainly a very good squad. They beat up on some Big Sky teams, they beat up on Sac State, they beat up on Idaho. The level of competition this weekend is going to be very high, and we need to be ready for it."
The Aggies finished 2023-24 with a 13-10 dual record, 3-3 in the Big West. That included wins against Big Sky co-champions Northern Arizona and Sacramento State, along with perennial league power Idaho. UC Davis opens its 2025 season against Denver on Friday.
The Cats play Denver on Sunday at 11 am at the Denver Tennis Park. The Pioneers finished the 2023-24 season with a 23-1 record, and didn't lose until the NCAA Tournament. DU finished 2023-24 ranked No. 42 nationally, and is picked to win the Summit League this season.
"Denver is a very good team," Ceolin said. "Last year they had an undefeated regular season, they went 23-0, they're very, very good. They finished the year No. 42 in the country, they lost in the NCAA Tournament to Michigan State."
While Ceolin makes his head coaching premiere this season, he has a pair of familiar faces on his staff. Dylan Harvala and Creel Smith both played for the Cats during Ceolin's time as an MSU student-athlete, although they didn't overlap with each other, and both have previous MSU experience as assistant coaches.
Live stats and video streaming are both available for this weekend's matches. The Cats make their 2025 home debut on Sunday, January 26, against North Dakota. First serve is 11 am in the Bobcat-Anderson Tennis Center.
#GoCatsGo
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