The men’s tennis team came away with their 11th straight conference title after beating the Mercer Bears 4-3. The Buccaneers made their 11th appearance in the NCAA tournament.
To go along with their SoCon Championship, the Bucs achieved their 17th all time regular season title.
The Bucs went 16-7 overall and were an impressive 7-0 in the conference, finishing the season 5-3 at home and 7-4 away.
David Biosca (Sant Fruitos de Bage, Spain) was awarded First Team All-SoCon and SoCon Tournament Most Outstanding Player. He went a perfect 6-0 in singles and doubles at the SoCon tourney.
Biosca was also named the General Shale Southern Conference Student-Athlete of the Week for competition held through the week of April 19-25. The senior’s longest winning streak was 11 matches in singles and with doubles partner Miguel Este (Caracas, Venezuela) was a total of 8 matches.
Earning First Team conference recognition for doubles was junior Robert Herrera (Barcelona, Spain) and senior Diego Nunez (Monterrey, Mexico). The duo was 12-7 overall and ended up 5-2 in the conference. Herrera went a notable 7-0 in the conference in singles.
Richard Rojas was also named Coach of the Year by his peers. Rojas led the Buccaneers to an undefeated season in the Southern Conference.
The women also had a great amount of success this season. Going 14-6 overall, ending up 5-0 at home and 7-5 away. The Bucs had a strong showing in the SoCon Tournament but ultimately were beaten by No. 1 Furman 4-2 in the championship match, bringing them to 6-1 in the conference.
Sophomore Marina Guinart (Castellar Del Valles, Spain) and junior Ioanna Markesini (Athens, Greece) both earned First Team singles and doubles honors.
The duo was 14-4 overall and 5-1 in the conference. Guinart went undefeated this year until the SoCon tourney. Her impressive record of 36 wins came to an end when she was beaten by SoCon Player of the Year Ansley Speaks.
Alory Pereira (Sao Paulo, Brazil) also received an honor, being named Second Team for singles. The junior went 13-5 overall this season and 6-1 in the conference. She and doubles partner Yi Chi Ma (Kaohsiung, Taiwan) went 11-7 and 2-4 in the conference. Ma was honored with All-Freshman honors earlier in the season.
The men’s tennis team will face off against No. 19 South Carolina in their first round of the NCAA Tournament May 12.
