McPherson, Kan. – The McPherson College Men's Tennis Program is pleased to announce the following commitments of seven players to start at school this spring of 2015.  Ahmed Lahlou, Pedro Ribes, Pablo Garcia, Puneet Dave, Jose Carillio, Hugo Ball-Greene, Gabriel Franca.

"During the recruiting process we tried to find students we felt could do well at McPherson academically and athletically as well as being good all-around team players," said head coach Justin Stuckey.  "I feel that all seven of the players we have coming in have the ability to contribute to our team right away in singles and or doubles".    

Gabriel Franca comes from Sao Paolo, Brazil.  He has been playing tennis for the past 10 years.  

"Gabriel is a player that we feel can play a strong level and will be a great teammate and can truly progress his level of play over time," commented Stuckey.  "Gabriel is a player and person that fits very well into the type of student-athlete we want to have in our program.  We are very excited to have Gabriel here on campus and a part the Bulldog Family over the next four years."

Ahmed Lahlou is one of the top tennis players in all of Morocco and was a member of the African Junior Championship team; he also won the Moroccan Junior Championships. He currently has a Junior ITF world ranking of 1700 and has been ranked as high as 947.

"Ahmed is a very talented tennis player and equally talented student in the classroom," said Stuckey.  "We are very excited to have Ahmed as a member of the McPherson College community."

Pedro Ribes comes from Spain and was ranked in the top 1000 of the men's rankings.

"Pedro has the ability to impact our doubles and singles line-ups and has shown that he is a hard worker and will try to improve his game every time he is on and off the court," said Stuckey.  "Pedro's best tennis is very much still ahead of him and we are looking forward to seeing him compete for the next several years.

Pablo Garcia is from Spain and has been ranked recently in the top 500 in the men's rankings.

"Pablo is a great student and tennis player," commented Stuckey.  "He has great weapons on the court that will allow him to influence our doubles and singles line-up.  We can tell that he will be a great contributor to our program and are excited to have him for the next four years.

Puneet Dave is from Dubai and is a transfer and will be a sophomore this year on the tennis court at McPherson College. Puneet most recently started for NCAA Division-II Malone University. He was a starter in doubles and singles and owns a win over an all-conference player from Findlay University.

"Puneet has the opportunity to impact our line-up in singles and doubles," said Stuckey.  "We feel very confident that he will continue to grow and are looking forward to seeing the improvement for the next three years.

Jose Maria Carillio Rena is from Canary Island, Spain and was ranked in the top 1000 for men's rankings.   

"During the recruiting process, Jose showed that he is a team player and that he is very committed to working hard on and off the court.  Jose may not have a lot of high level results but it is very apparent that he can play at a high level," said Stuckey.  "We are excited to have him here at McPherson."

Hugo Ball-Greene hails from France and trained at the ISP tennis academy.  Hugo has a career best 4/6 rating and has proven wins over ranked players from France with ratings of 2/6 and 0.

"Hugo has the ability to be a big part of our doubles and singles line-ups this year and has trained with some of the best tennis players in the entire country of France," commented Stuckey.  "He is an extremely strong student in the class room.  We can't wait to see Hugo's work ethic on the tennis court and excited that he will be a Bulldog."

McPherson College men's team returns five of eight starters from last year's team and will look to build off a second place finish in both the KCAC regular season and postseason tournament. The team will have their first match of the spring against Washburn University indoors in Topeka towards the end of February.

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McPherson College is a Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference member school and a part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.