By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information Coordinator
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – There have been hundreds upon hundreds that have draped the purple and gold throughout the annals of Tennessee Tech tennis. Decades of Golden Eagles alike, armed with racket in hand, peering promisingly above net onto competitor glaring back.
There have been those that have won. There have been those that have lost. There have been leaders, captains, champions, award recipients and hall of famers. There have been those that are among the most decorated and dominant to ever step foot on the courts in Cookeville.
But, there has never been one quite like Eduardo Mena.
And for that matter, there may never be one quite like him again.
No matter metric, stat, accolade or virtually any measurement that quantifies success, the numbers, notes and achievements speak for themselves. For a slender 6-foot, four-year Golden Eagle out of Bultrago del Lozoya, Spain, he stands in a place of rarified air and among a pantheon, a Mount Rushmore if you will, for those that have ever donned the purple and gold.
"When I hear my name considered among the all-time greats, I think of all the work that I've put in to get to a point like that and all of those that helped me along the way," a modest Mena said. "I feel honored that some people may think of me that way. My time as a Golden Eagle means everything to me and I'm very thankful that I came to this great university."
"Thankful" is a two-way street when it comes to the contributions Mena made. A two-time OVC Player of the Year and four-time All-OVC recipient, Mena ended an illustrious Tech tenure as the only Golden Eagle to eclipse the century mark in career singles wins, accumulating an overall record of 105-37, 19 more wins than the next closest Golden Eagle. Combined with his 48 career doubles victories, Mena tallied an eye-popping 153 total wins throughout his collegiate career, 10 more than the next closest TTU player in program history.
Seemingly never an off night, let alone an off season, Mena is the only Golden Eagle to ever see his name appear three different times on the top-ten single-season singles wins list. His 33 victories in the 2015-16 campaign are the most ever in one year of Tennessee Tech tennis. He went undefeated in conference play in two of his four seasons as a Golden Eagle, dropping one match as a freshman and one as a senior for an overall OVC mark of 26-2, a winning percentage of .929.
"It was a pleasure coaching Edu and I learned more from him than he could possibly imagine," TTU head coach Kenny Doyle said, who coached Mena for all four years of his Golden Eagle career, nearly half of his own Tech tenure for the ninth-year head coach. "It was apparent from day one that there was something special with him. Throughout his time here he competed among the highest levels of NCAA DI tennis and it was great watching him excel, set OVC records and appear in NCAA championships. Edu was willing to go longer, work harder and give more than others."
The gaudy numbers are one thing, but what helped set Mena apart from his Golden Eagle predecessors and allowed his name to be discussed within a historical context the likes of which have never been witnessed, was his ability to perform when the lights were brightest and the stage was grandest. Not only did Mena take aim in a slew of the nation's most premier tournaments year in and year out, but the four-year Golden Eagle soared against an abundance of nationally ranked foes, essentially beginning with a battle against the number one.
Rewind to the spring of 2016. Playing as TTU's No. 1 singles player for most of the year, Mena, who took home the OVC Player of the Year award after claiming the league's Freshman of the Year honors as a rookie in 2015, had just helped lead the Golden Eagles to the first of three straight OVC Tournament championships and the first of three straight NCAA Tournament appearances. After learning of Tech's fate in the big dance with a trip to Columbus and a first-round battle with Ohio State, Mena was about to tangle with his tallest task to date as just a sophomore.
Up stepped the number one player in the entire nation, Mikael Torpegaard and his unblemished 23-0 record that spring that netted him Big Ten Player of the Year of honors. Having already registered a 10-2 mark against "Power 5" competition during the season, Mena was more than up to the challenge. Despite the bout not finishing, Mena seized the first set with a 7-6 (7-5) triumph and led 3-2 in the second set at the time when the match was officially called.
Although the clash was never formally decided, the experience of leading the nation's top-ranked player on a stage of that magnitude was worth its weight in gold.
"Leading up to that match I already had a lot of confidence after beating a lot of great players from bigger universities during the regional tournament in the fall," Mena noted. "It was kind of like the point where everything changed in my career and I honestly felt like I could beat anybody in the country. So after being up on the number one ranked player in that match against Ohio State at the end of the year, it showed me that I really could beat anyone in the country. I went into my junior year with tons of confidence."
Enter junior year. Equipped with the challenge of defending his OVC Player of the Year hardware, Mena proved that it would indeed by a year of déjà vu. Thanks to a second-consecutive undefeated conference campaign and an overall calendar year that featured only five losses, Mena was recognized as the conference's Player of the Year for the second-straight season, a feat that has only occurred four times within the league since 1991.
The Golden Eagles would once again take home the OVC regular season and tournament championship, but for Mena, the cherry on top of another star-studded season would reveal itself in the form of a piece of program history. After becoming only the second Golden Eagle ever to secure a bid in the NCAA DI singles championships, joining Borja Zarco's 2008 appearance, Mena took it a step further with place in Tech lore that now has only reservations for one.
Behind 6-4, 7-6 (6) victory over Baylor's Maxime Tchoutakian in the tournament's opening round, Mena became the first Golden Eagle ever to win a match in the NCAA DI singles championships.
A year later, he did it again, only upping the ante to his spot in school history. Mena became the first TTU tennis player ever to qualify for two NCAA DI singles championship, and after a 6-4, 6-3 win over Louisville's Christopher Morin-Kougoucheff, Mena's resume now includes a pair of victories in the nation's most elite tournament.
The victory would serve as his final decked in purple and gold, capping off a swan-song season in which Mena was nationally ranked all year long. In fact, with a No. 28 ranking by the Oracle Intercollegiate Tennis Association in mid-November, Mena secured the highest ranking in school history, surpassing his own preseason ranking of No. 33 from early September.
Mena's final nod would also act as his last of 26 victories against "Power 5" competition, as well as his concluding 10th win against nationally-ranked opponents throughout his TTU tenure. Among the highlights against some of the nation's best, a victory over the No. 2 ranked player in the country in Mississippi State's Nuno Borges as part of a dramatic run all the way to the quarterfinals of the ITA Men's All-American Championships during Mena's senior season.
"Beating a ranked person was always amazing. It gave me the motivation to keep going and keep improving," Mena said. "And definitely one of the high points of my career was beating the No. 2 ranked player last fall. I could say that was one of my best feelings on a tennis court, not just because of the win, but also because I had so much fun on the court that day."
"I always focused on those games against ranked opponents and marked them on my calendar," Mena continued, giving a touch of insight toward his success against top competition. "It's not every day that we had the chance to play against ranked opponents, so I knew those were the chances to show myself I could compete against them and help put Tennessee Tech on the college tennis map."
For all the tidal waves of individual success, it needs to be reinforced that Mena was the leader of a TTU tennis era as good as any. Spending virtually his entire career as Tech's No. 1 singles player, the Golden Eagles won a total of six OVC championships with Mena in the mix. TTU claimed the regular season title three times, the postseason tournament crown three times, and clinched a berth in the NCAA Tournament in each of Mena's final three years as a collegiate tennis player.
"It meant a lot to win all of those championships and those are memories that I won't ever forget," Mena said. "At the end of each season you see how all of the hard work with the team during the year, all the ups and downs and tough moments pay off. After spending every day with your team and then finishing off the year by winning a championship is just a great feeling."
Although his time on the courts as a Golden Eagle has concluded, his legacy and impact upon Tennessee Tech tennis is only beginning.
"He's the best who has ever walked out on the courts here and it will certainly help us in the future with recruiting and getting the program to become even better," assistant coach Rogerio Ribeiro said, who knows a thing or two about success with multiple All-SoCon honors while delivering several conference championships as a player at ETSU. "It has been a pleasure to see Edu compete on and off the tennis courts. He is a very competitive guy who wants to succeed in all areas. His passion for the sport is incredible and he put in the work day in and day out to become the best player who has ever walked the Tennessee Tech tennis courts."
Photo by Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
