By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information Coordinator

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – He's arguably the greatest to ever throw on the purple and gold, and after competing at the highest stage in collegiate tennis, his captivating career came to a conclusion Thursday afternoon.

But of course, as he's always done in his Tennessee Tech tenure, he didn't go down without a fight.

After falling in a tightly contested first set, 7-6 (3), against the No. 2 overall seed in the field of 64, No. 66 Eduardo Mena bounced back with a 6-4 second-set victory to square his Round of 32 NCAA DI Singles Championships clash at 1-1. Ultimately North Carolina's William Blumberg would best Mena behind a 6-3 final set nod to put a lid on Mena's historical run as a Golden Eagle.

A two-time OVC Player of the Year and four-time All-OVC recipient, Mena ends his TTU tenure as the only Golden Eagle to ever win two matches in the NCAA DI Singles Championships. After a straight-set victory over Baylor's Maxime Tchoutakian in last year's first round, Mena recorded a first round win in this year's event with a straight-set nod against Louisville's Christopher Morin-Kougoucheff on Wednesday.

Ranked as high as No. 28 in the nation, Mena wrapped up his swan song campaign with a 14-5 singles spring mark, all out of the top spot in the Tech lineup. In the fall, Mena put the collegiate tennis world on notice with three wins against Top 50 opponents, highlighted by a victory over No. 3 Nuno Borges of Mississippi State en route to the quarterfinals of the ITA All Men's All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla.

Photo by Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information