KNOXVILLE, Tn.- The season for the Men's Tennis team has come to an end as the Royals wrap up their season with a final record of 9-12.
For the Royals, this season saw high levels of success for the team as well as individuals. The Royals as a whole had the highest individual match winning percentage in the ten year history of the program. They also saw the number of AAC conference wins double. The Royals were led in singles wins by Junior Noah Brown and in doubles wins by Freshman Ignacio Gamarra and Sophomore Jacob Keeling. Overall, Keeling and Gamarra scored the most individual wins on the team. Throughout this year, Keeling tied the mark for All-Time overall wins for the men's team and was joined on the top 5 All-Time wins list by Kaden Buchanan, Gerett Benjamin, and Camden Jones.
The Appalachian Athletic Conference also recognized a handful of Royals tennis players for accomplishments throughout the year. Senior Ian Thomas was named to the AAC Champions of Character team for displaying the five core values of integrity, responsibility, respect, servant leadership, and sportsmanship. The AAC also honored 5 Royals, Gerett Benjamin, Kaden Buchanan, Jacob Keeling, Camden Jones, and Cade Crowe, to the All-Academic Team for their accomplishments within the classroom.
The Royals will bid farewell to a highly successful senior class. Seniors Cade Crowe and Gerett Benjamin will leave the Royals tennis programs significantly better than they found it. They have played a part in more team victories than any previous players in the history of the program and have both served in leadership roles within the team throughout the past two years. Benjamin will leave the Royals third on the All-Time doubles wins list and with the most wins in the AAC.
Coach Hale summed up the end of the season, "I'm really proud of how hard the team fought and competed all year and the growth that we were able to make together. A core part of our lineup this year were freshmen and sophomores who had to adjust to the level of play or a new role and they did really well with that development. Our upperclassmen stepped into their mentor and leadership roles in a big way and will leave some large shoes to fill next year. While we will miss Cade and Gerett, we have some really strong players coming in to join the returners and I'm excited for what we can do next year!"
The Royals will return six players next year and are still building their incoming class to prepare for another successful year in 2023-2024!