By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information Coordinator
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech tennis team will put a lid on the regular season over the weekend, closing out the slate with a pair of home matches at Tech Tennis Courts. On Friday the Golden Eagles will greet Tennessee State for a 1 p.m. CT start, before welcoming in Belmont for a Saturday matinee beginning at 2 p.m.
Tech (9-6, 4-0) sits in the driver's seat for a chance at the program's fifth Ohio Valley Conference regular season championship in the last six years, currently standing as the only remaining undefeated team in OVC play. The Golden Eagles are also a mere two wins away from rolling out their fourth perfect conference campaign in the last six seasons.
TTU put itself on the precipice of yet another title behind a dominating string of OVC matches that has seen the Golden Eagles outscore their opponents by a combined 27-1 in four conference tilts. Tech took care of business in its lone match of the week Saturday afternoon in Cookeville, scoring early and often en route to 6-1 victory over Jacksonville State. The impressive showing marked the club's 21st consecutive OVC victory, a stretch that hasn't featured a Golden Eagle loss in over two calendar years.
Junior Eduardo Mena headlined the stellar performance over the Gamecocks as the Bultrago del Lozoya, Spain native seized both of his doubles and singles battles at the top of Tech's lineup. The pair of wins, which bumped his spring singles mark to a team-best 13-2, pushed Mena to the adidas® OVC Tennis Male Athlete of the Week, earning the honor Wednesday afternoon.
Mena's doubles counterpart, fellow junior Marcos Bernardes, moved his doubles record to a club-leading 8-3 mark after a thrilling affair that saw the duo rally late to secure a 7-5 victory over JSU's top tandem. Bernardes also possesses eight singles wins, deadlocking himself with Jorge Alfonzo for the second most on the team.
Sophomore Guillermo Nicolas captured his fifth straight singles nod Saturday afternoon, running his record to 7-2, while also boasting a stellar 7-3 doubles mark this spring.
Tennessee State comes to Cookeville on the second leg of a three-match road trip, first locking up with Belmont Thursday afternoon. The Tigers (7-6, 1-2) have lost two in a row after winning four-of-five, and head into the weekend in sixth place in the conference, but have already clinched a spot in the OVC Tournament.
Red-shirt senior Kyle Burton has collected the most singles wins on the squad with an 8-1 record, doing most of his work out of the No. 5 spot where the Madison, Tenn. native is 7-1. Burton is also 8-2 in doubles play, slightly edged by freshman Tom Vanden Broeck-Parant's 9-2 record for the club's top mark.
The Golden Eagles have controlled the all-time series with TSU, winning all 29 previous meetings with the Tigers.
Before its Saturday showdown with Tech, Belmont will host Tennessee State Thursday, before trekking to Jacksonville State for a Friday morning meeting with the Gamecocks. The Bruins (8-11, 2-1) are currently sitting in third place, one game back of Eastern Kentucky for second in the race for a first-round bye in next week's OVC Tournament.
Sophomore Zak Khan and freshman Vincent Sterkens have identical 9-8 singles records for the most wins by a Bruin this spring.
Tech leads the all-time series with Belmont, holding a 14-8 advantage over the Bruins.
Admission to Tech Tennis Courts over the weekend is free of charge.
Photo by Tony Marable
