Aug. 28, 2012

Bronx, N.Y. - Fordham University head men's tennis coach Cory Hubbard announced the addition of two transfers to the 2012-13 roster with the signing of Emilio Mora, who played at the University of San Diego last year, and Alastair Barnes, who competed for Indiana last season.

Mora, a junior who is a native of nearby Mamaroneck, N.Y., was a member of the University of San Diego squad the past two years, posting five singles wins in 2011-12 as well as competing in the Aztec Fall Invitational, Battle in the Bay, ITA Southwestern Regionals and Southern California Intercollegiate Championships.

As a freshman at San Diego, Mora compiled 13 singles wins on the year, including eight in dual matches, competing mostly at No. 6. He won four-straight singles contests between January 15th and January 29th and posted a four overall doubles victories.

The University of San Diego men's tennis team has been ranked in the top 30, and this year cracked the top 15.

Mora was ranked as the #56 recruit in the nation and #6 in NY by tennis recruiting.net for the Class of 2010. He attended Rye Neck High School in Rye, N.Y., where he also lettered in basketball. Mora posted a 41-21 overall record at Rye where he was also a member of the lacrosse and hockey squads. . "I am very excited about bringing Emilio back home to New York," said Hubbard. "It's great for our program landing a former five star recruit, and someone from the New York City area. He is a former Eastern Sectional Champion, and will bring a lot of credibility to our program and will help recruiting local kids in the future, since he was such a successful junior player."

Barnes, who played two years at Tulsa and one at Indiana, will sit out the 2012-13 season due to NCAA transfer requirements. He will have one year of eligibility remaining.

Alastair Barnes

Last year at Indiana, which was consistently ranked in the Top 30 in the NCAA, Barnes went 11-5 playing four, five and six singles (5-2 at No. 6) and 24-12 in doubles (22-11 at No. 3).

At Tulsa, Barnes picked up 24 singles wins in two years and 24 in doubles play. He earned a career-high doubles rank of No. 53 on Feb. 14, 2011 and was a member of the first team in school history to reach the NCAA Round of 16.

Barnes won ten singles matches as a sophomore, going 7-7 during the dual season with a 2-0 mark at the No. 2 position and a 4-1 mark at No. 6 singles. He defeated Mario Martinez of East Carolina at No. 6 singles in the first round of the C-USA Championship and helped that squad to the NCAA Round of 16 .

As a freshman in 2009-10, Barnes posted 14 singles wins, going 7-7 at No. 3 singles. He clinched Tulsa's 4-3 win over No. 30 Notre Dame in the first round of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend with a three-set victory over No. 95-ranked Daniel Stahl.

A native of Bournemouth, England, Barnes competed on the singles and doubles juniors ITF circuits and was ranked as high as 62nd in the World ITF junior rankings. He won the Malaysia Grade 1, Japan Grade 1 and South Africa Grade 2 juniors doubles championships and reached the finals of Grade 3 ITF juniors singles championship and the semifinals of the Grade 2 ITF juniors singles championship.

"Alastair comes to Fordham as the most decorated junior player in the history of the school," said Hubbard. "He has competed in the Junior Grand Slam tournaments at Wimbledon and the US Open and the prestigious Junior Orange Bowl. Having a former top 75 junior player in the world is pretty remarkable. It will be tough having him sit out this season, but it will be worth it in 2013 when he will be able to play."

"Getting two transfers from top 20 programs San Diego and Indiana, says a lot about the level of the Fordham program," continued Hubbard. "It shows we are gaining recognition nationally as a program on the rise, and players realize what a great situation we have at Fordham. I am very excited to have Emilio and Al as they will bring a lot of experience and leadership to our team. Coming from programs that are consistently in the national rankings and NCAA tournament, they will be able to show the guys what it takes to train and play at that level. More importantly, they are both great kids and coming to Fordham because they embody what it means to be a true student-athlete and want to achieve success on the court and in the classroom."