There's plenty of change within the USF men's tennis program. The Bulls lost six graduating players from last season, including three top-flight performers who used their bonus COVID year to transfer.

At the same time, nothing has changed.

According to Bulls coach Ashley Fisher, the program's minimum standard is not only reaching the NCAA Tournament but doing some damage in the postseason.

"I was fortunate enough to walk into a successful program here,'' Fisher said. "The bar has remained the same. In fact, we've raised it. Just getting there (NCAA Tournament) isn't enough. Not for me. Not for us. We believe we have another group that can contend for a conference championship and get into the Sweet 16.''

The Bulls open Saturday afternoon against the Rice Owls — a future American Athletic Conference opponent — in a four-team event at Boca Raton. USF also faces UC-Santa Barbara (Sunday) and home-standing Florida Atlantic (Monday).

USF faces the likes of Columbia, Cornell, Penn State, Virginia Commonwealth and Memphis, one of the four AAC teams to earn an NCAA bid last season. The Bulls' schedule highlight is a January 27-road match against the Florida Gators, an NCAA Tournament quarterfinalist last season.

Last year, the Bulls capitalized on a strong stretch run to finish 14-11, while earning the program's seventh NCAA bid in the past eight seasons (excluding the pandemic-cancelled 2020 year). The No. 42-ranked Bulls were beaten 4-3 in the first round by the Miami Hurricanes.

The Bulls were 5-6 at one point — with four 4-3 defeats — so Fisher said 2022 must be considered an underachievement.

"We left too many results on the court,'' Fisher said. "I think we looked past some teams, dug ourselves a pretty good hole, then played much better late in the season. I would like to see more consistency.''

Fisher said the Bulls will have an eight-player team — "a smaller group than usual, but a nice size'' — but he added that "we've got a lot of ability and as far as everybody being aligned, it's the best group that I've had here in my seven years.''

Fisher said USF's lineup has been boosted by the addition of two seasoned Australian players — Elijah Cham and Thomas Pavlekovich Smith — who bring a history of preparation, professionalism and production from their native land.

Two SEC transfers — Erik Grevelius (Georgia) and Davide Tortora (Mississippi State) — figure to contend for spots at the top of USF's lineup. Grevelius reached the quarterfinals of the fall International Tennis Association Southeast Regionals while Tortora got to the Round of 16.

The Bulls should also receive a boost from holdover players Alvin Tudorica and Bruno Oliveira. Last season, Tudorica was 16-5 in singles — with a 14-match winning streak — and 15-7 in doubles. Oliveira (and partner Rithvik Bollipalli) reached No. 9 nationally in doubles and were selected to the All-AAC team.

"I expect a lot from this group,'' Fisher said. "We're young and all of them (are eligible) to come back (in 2023-24). Last season, we could never really get over the hump and a lot of that was our doing. We gave ourselves a great chance against Miami (in the NCAA Tournament), but unfortunately couldn't get over the line.

"I know we have talent, but I can't be real specific about who's playing where. It's a good problem to have. It's just a challenge of figuring out where everyone best fits in. I think we'll try a few things and give our guys some chances, especially with the doubles combinations. The goal is always to be playing your best tennis at the end of the season. But when we play a top team, we want to beat them or be right next to them. That's where we believe we belong as a program. As far as I'm concerned, that's the annual expectation for USF tennis."

-       Go Bulls –