By Dylan Vazzano, Sports Information Coordinator
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Steeped in recent success behind a slew of conference championships, the Tennessee Tech tennis team takes the initial step in continuing its scorching run at the top as the Golden Eagles unwrap the spring season Saturday evening in Nashville. Tech will head west down I-40 to tangle with Lipscomb, batting with the Bisons at 6 p.m. CT from the Richland Country Club.
The match will mark the third-straight year in which TTU jump starts the season at Lipscomb, with Saturday's affair set to serve as the rubber match after the clubs split the last two years. The Bisons claimed a 4-3 win in the 2015 opener, before Tech returned the favor with a 4-3 nod in last year's season introduction. Overall, the Golden Eagles lead the all-time series, 24-12, and have captured victories in seven of the last eight meetings with their in-state counterparts.
The Golden Eagles enter this spring having seized four of the last five OVC regular season championships, highlighted by last year's perfect, 9-0, conference record that saw the Golden Eagles take home the OVC Tournament title for the club's first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2006. TTU's 15 wins in the spring were the most since 2008.
Tech brings back a roster shelved with accolades thanks to a trio of Golden Eagles that return after taking down a batch of conference hardware a season ago. Headlining the list is junior Eduardo Mena, last year's OVC Player of the Year, who registered an eye-popping 20-1 singles record in the spring, including a perfect 9-0 mark in OVC action. Dating back to last fall, Mena's 33 wins were the most ever in a single year in program history.
Sophomore Guillermo Nicolas mirrored Mena by compiling his own 9-0 singles OVC record, going 18-4 overall in the spring. The stellar mark netted the Villanueva de la Canada, Spain native with the OVC Freshman of the Year honor, while also joining Mena on the All-OVC first team list.
Senior Alberto Esteban accompanied Mena and Nicolas on the All-OVC first team list with an impressive junior campaign that saw the Madrid, Spain native roll out a 7-2 conference singles record. Tech will also welcome back juniors Jorge Alfonzo and Marcos Bernardes, who combined to go 15-2 in singles action in the OVC.
TTU head coach Kenny Doyle is in his eighth season at the helm, and after being honored as last year's OVC Coach of the Year, he has now won the award in four of his first seven seasons in charge.
Before Lipscomb welcomes the Golden Eagles, the Bisons will kick off their season with a Friday showdown at Vanderbilt. Lipscomb tallied an 8-13 overall record a season ago with a 2-4 mark in Atlantic Sun Conference action.
Among the Bisons that return for head coach Mario Hernandez, senior Rob Mitchell and junior Alejando Manzanares are back in the fold after strong springs last season that saw the tandem each record double-digit singles wins.
Photo by Jim Dillon
