HEADED TO NATIONALS: The Tyler Junior College tennis team will compete in the NJCAA Tournament beginning Monday in Plano. The team poses for a photograph Thursday at the JoAnn Medlock Murphy Tennis Center on the TJC campus. Team members are (from left) Mario Jakovljevic, Aleks Grabovac, Augusto Velez, Pier Pieracciani, John DeVose, Colby Meeks, Paulo Roessle, Stan Royer, Marco Lopez and Pete Thomason.

By JOE BUIE
Staff Writer, Tyler Morning Telegraph

The Tyler Junior College men's tennis team has a tough act to follow.

The women's program just returned home from Arizona where the Apache Ladies won the national tournament in dominating fashion to complete a smooth season.

For the TJC men, who begin their national tournament Monday in Plano, the spring has been just a little rocky.

However, the Apaches defeated five-time defending national champion Laredo, 7-2, at the Region XIV Tournament. So with that, the Apaches are hopeful.

"Our team has learned to be fighters," TJC head coach John Peterson said. "They are a group of scrappers now. I think they have taken pride in the fact they get to be labeled as fighters.

"When they played Laredo at regionals, they were a unit. They were as competitive as our girls team. And they took great pride in that."

The Apaches were ranked No. 1 in the nation in the fall, with Laredo No. 2 and Collin No. 3. But once the updated rankings came out in mid-April, it was Collin, TJC and Laredo.

Collin, the host college for the national tournament, seized the top spot after winning the Southwest Juco Tournament in Temple. The Southwest Juco has a flighted format, the same used for nationals.

Collin also has the top-ranked singles player in Damian Hume.

"Collin County is the heavy favorite," Peterson said. "They are loaded with talent. They've got such a good No. 1 guy."

Starting for TJC in singles will be freshman Mario Jakovljevic, sophomore Pier Pieracciani, sophomore Stan Rodier, sophomore John Devose, sophomore Paulo Roessle and freshman Pete Thomason.

The same six players will pair up in doubles. The order will be Pieracciani-Jakovljevic, Rodier-Roessle and Devose-Thomason.

The Apaches have quite the international flare with two Brazilians (Pieracciani and Roessle), a Frenchman (Rodier), a Croatian (Jakovljevic) and two Americans (Thomason and Devose).

TJC's complete men's roster includes players from Slovenia, Peru, Mexico and Canada.

"I was surprised when I came here because I was thinking it would be all Americans, just maybe a few guys from the other countries," said Jakovljevic, who had never been to the U.S. before last August.

Jakovljevic has struggled at the top of the TJC lineup while facing the best players in the nation. He said he's had more success in doubles with Pieracciani as his partner.

"This semester was really tough … a lot of good guys and a lot of good teams," he said. "It was really tough to play No. 1 on TJC."

Jakovljevic said the losses were tough to take. But, like Peterson says, mental toughness is the key.

"You have to be tough for that," Jakovljevic said. "At the beginning of this semester I wasn't ready for that. But now I've become more ready and for nationals I'll be 100 percent."

Jakovljevic fought hard against Laredo's No. 1 player at regionals in a three-set loss, which was decided by a tiebreaker. TJC won the No. 1 doubles match in another fierce battle.

"He's very talented," Peterson said of Jakovljevic, who is on scholarship. "His record doesn't speak to his talent. I'd say he's come on in the last month and figured out a few things about what it takes to play on this level. I don't look for him to be a high seed (at nationals), but he'll be dangerous.

"Pier has helped him. They've got a couple of wins against Laredo at 1. They have a chance to be a 2 seed at 1 doubles."

Jakovljevic said he came to TJC on the recommendation of Wichita State's tennis coach, after the Croatian was unable to enroll at the Kansas university because he didn't qualify academically. All he needed to hear was that TJC was a top-notch program with great facilities.

Jakovljevic is from Osijek, Croatia in central Europe. He calls it a small town with a population similar to Tyler's.

"It's really beautiful," he said. "We have a big river in my town … and we have really good athletes."

His favorite is Goran Ivanisevic, who won Wimbledon in 2001.

Other differences for Jakovljevic in America include playing on hard courts as opposed to clay, and eating fast food.

Link to Original Article:  http://tylerpaper.com/article/20100509/SPORTS06/5090325