TOLEDO, OH - Senior Stjepan Sisko (Kastel Stari, Croatia) has been invited to represent the Mid-American Conference in the 2016 Oracle/ITA Masters on October 13-16 in Malibu, CA. This national collegiate championship event will be held at Pepperdine University and will feature the top returning player from each Division I athletic conference, with one additional wild card spot.
 
"I feel extremely honored to be selected as the MAC representative. I will do my best to represent my school and my conference at the Oracle/ITA Masters," said Sisko.
 
The tournament will consist of a double elimination 32-player men's singles draw and a double elimination 32-player women's singles draw, along with a single elimination 32-team mixed doubles draw. Each mixed doubles team will be comprised of the men's player and the women's player from each conference, with the wild card players paired together or with conference players who don't have a counterpart.
 
"This event will give Stjepan a third, and maybe largest, fall opportunity to face the nation's finest in collegiate tennis. The other huge events he will compete at are the ITA Midwest Regional Tournament and the ITA Men's All-American Championships. But the Oracle/ITA Masters event is an extremely exclusive club, where the depth of the field will be eye-popping. I believe that Stjepan can answer the challenge," said head coach Al Wermer.
 
As a two-time MAC Player of the Year and 2014 MAC Newcomer of the Year, it makes sense that Sisko was picked to represent the conference. The senior has earned First-Team All-MAC honors for three-straight seasons and is a three-time team MVP. Sisko finished his 2015-16 season as No. 18 in the 2016 Oracle/ITA Midwest Regional rankings. He compiled a 25-5 overall record (6-1 MAC) at No. 1 singles. He reached a career-high 16-match win streak and tallied 16 two-set victories. Sisko was named MAC Singles Player of the Week twice and earned MAC Doubles Team of the Week with teammate Luka Vitosevic.
 
Last fall, Sisko defeated Utah's Parker McGuiness (6-3,6-2) in the first round of the ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa, OK. At the ITA Midwest Regionals, he downed Illinois' Alex Jesse (7-6, 7-6) as the No. 11 seed in the tournament. Sisko also paired up with teammate Omar Espinosa to defeat a Depaul duo, 8-3, as the No. 20 seeded team at the ITA Regionals. Sisko then claimed a victory over No. 5 Boris Bakavov of Bulgaria (4-6, 6-2, 6-3) at the USTA Pro Circuit in Niceville, FL.