Ivan Kisic, a first-year student-athlete on the Ithaca College men’s tennis team, exploded onto the scene when he took home the “B” Singles title at the St. Lawrence University Fall Classic on Sept. 8. No other Bomber has claimed a Singles title at this tournament since 2016, when Minos Stavrakas and Nathan Wolf respectively won the “A” and “C” Flights.

“When I first came here, my motive was to try to win every match,” Kisic said. “I feel pretty determined to win. I don’t really like losing. I’m more focused on staying confident and just pushing through.”

Kisic has a wide range of on-court skills that have allowed him to make an immediate impact for the Bombers. After his performance at the St. Lawrence Fall Classic, Kisic was named Liberty League men’s tennis rookie of the week. Sophomore doubles partner Emiliano Pedrero described the steady and energetic play style that has allowed Kisic to stand out from the rest.

“He has a really big serve,” Pedrero said. “He’s pretty tall, and he accelerates really well. Also his consistency. Once the match starts, he’s able to play long points at a pretty high level. Just the way he plays — he plays aggressively, but consistently, which is the most difficult part.”

Head coach Tom Rishcoff further detailed the rookie’s broad mixture of strengths on the court.

“I think he’s really dynamic,” Rishcoff said. “I don’t think there’s many holes in his game. He’s kind of an all-court player. So he’s got a big serve, great forehand, his backhand is consistent, he can play the net pretty well.”

It is a rare sight to see a first-year student-athlete come into a program with this kind of success. According to Kisic and those close to him, his impressive start to the season can be attributed to his time spent at the Emilio Sanchez Academy, a high school in Naples, Florida.

Founded in 1998 by tennis legends Emilio Sanchez Vicario and Sergio Casal, the Emilio Sanchez Academy has positioned itself as an elite tennis school that churns out professional and collegiate players every year. As a junior in high school, it was at this sprawling, tennis court-filled campus where Kisic developed the most as a player and a person.

“Training with a bunch of players who are all similar in level to you, it’s fun, it’s competitive,” Kisic said.

Oscar Rodriguez, Kisic’s high school coach, detailed the young athlete’s development while at the academy in a letter sent to The Ithacan.

“In 2021, he started to play on the high school team and I think that kind of competition and those matches helped to improve his character as a player and the way he was competing,” Rodriguez said in the letter. “He was able to be a leader and became a player who was difficult to beat.”

The countless hours spent on the tennis court in high school are proving worthwhile for the rookie, giving him an edge and a strong sense of confidence that not many other first-year athletes experience.

“He’s a natural fighter on the court,” Rishcoff said. “He’s competitive. He looks very comfortable when he’s playing.”

Originally committed to play tennis at Division 1 Sacred Heart University, Kisic decided to switch course in late May and become a Bomber.

“The coach here at Ithaca was really simplistic,” Kisic said. “He made it easy for me. It seemed like he really wanted me, so that’s what ultimately made me choose Ithaca.”

Rishcoff said he originally did not have Kisic on his radar of recruits. But after watching him play at a showcase in Florida, the coach made an effort to maintain contact with Ivan through his recruiting process.

“I saw his ability,” Rishcoff said. “I thought he had a high ceiling to his game.”

Recruiting high-level players is crucial for college coaches looking to make an impact in the Liberty League. Bombers’ coaches saw three of their teams placed in the national top 40 by the end of the 2024 Spring season, according to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. But landing a recruit with Division 1 talent like Kisic was no easy task.

“I think when you’re recruiting, you kind of try to create your own luck a little bit,” Rishcoff said.

Establishing and maintaining contact with high school coaches and players is key for any college head coach during recruitment, which is usually a year-round effort. However, Rishcoff had not yet set up a connection with the Emilio Sanchez Academy’s coaches and players prior to watching Kisic play for the first time.

“It wasn’t like I had him on my list or anything like that,” Rishcoff said. “He’s an academy player from Florida. So it was an event that I went down to see, a showcase in Florida. I actually met him down there, and saw him on the sheet of players.”

Because tennis is an international sport, talent resides in places well beyond the typical recruiting sphere that you see with other sports at the Division 3 level. Seven of the team’s ten players hail from hometowns outside the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions, and three are from other countries.

“I try to keep some good connections with coaches of different areas,” Rishcoff said. “California, Florida, all around, just to help try to bring the best to the school.”

Kisic’s success at the St. Lawrence tournament has given him the opportunity to represent his team as its No. 1 Singles player in matches going forward; in the Lions Tournament on Sept. 13 and 14, Kisic was slotted in as the No. 1 Singles player on the Bombers’ depth chart. However, this role is being hotly contested by fellow teammate Gijs Fidler, a sophomore who was awarded Second Team All-Liberty League honors following the Spring 2024 season.

As the season goes on, iron will continue to sharpen iron between the two.

“We play a lot of practice sets with each other,” Kisic said. “I think throughout the season, we’ll keep playing sets to determine who’s going to be the No. 1.”

However, this competition on the court does not seem to affect the group’s chemistry.

“When I play, they definitely give me confidence to keep going forward,” Kisic said. “I hang out with [my teammates] pretty much everyday.”

The close-knit bond that is evident in this year’s team provides a road of promise going forward.

“This year, [the culture is] super positive,” Pedrero said. “We’re excited. We’re mentally rejuvenated. We’re working twice as hard as last year. There’s more accountability. There’s more compromise from everyone. So we’re a team that’s actually pursuing a goal.”

In the most recent tournament this season held from Sept. 27–29, the Northeast ITA Regional, Kisic and Pedrero gained an impressive victory over former Bomber and First Team All-Liberty League player Nicolas Luis ’24, now playing for Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, in a doubles match to advance to the round of 16. In singles matches, Kisic posted a 4-1 record for the Fall 2024 season.

While hopes are high, time will tell if Ivan Kisic and the new-look South Hill squad can build off of their success from the St. Lawrence Fall Classic and the Northeast ITA Regionals.

“We graduated four players last year, so I think we’re just trying to find our identity,” Rishcoff said. “It’ll be a fun season. I think we’ve got a lot of young talent, so I’m looking to kind of build from there.”