The Georgia Southern University men’s tennis team finished eighth in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s (ITA) Southeast Regional rankings.

GSU’s men’s tennis team finished with its first winning record since 2009, going 11-9 overall with a 6-4 record in the Southern Conference in 2013.

“The recognition that we received in the regional rankings is a great step for this program. Next year we need to build on the momentum that we built in April with some big wins and carry that into a national ranking and a NCAA appearance,” men’s tennis head coach Nick Zieziula said in a news release.

GSU rising sophomore Rayane Djouad finished his freshman campaign with a 22-5 overall record with a 14-3 dual match record and finished in the top-20 individual regional rankings.

“I’m proud of the improvement that Rayane showed over the course of the year. We try to emphasize improvement in this program, get a little better each day and that is what he did throughout the year and is still doing through his summer training,” Zieziula said in a news release.

GSU made a large improvement in 2013, winning eight more contests than in 2012.