Gardner-Webb Athletics Hall of Fame
Legendary tennis player Evgeny Slesarev excelled at every step of his career at Gardner-Webb and he finished his four years in Boiling Springs, N.C., with 116 total wins on the court. The native of Krasnoyarsk, Russia, won 70 singles matches during that stretch and remains one of the most dominant players to step on a tennis court in a Gardner-Webb uniform. Those 70 victories established a new school record, as did his 46 doubles wins. In 2010, Slesarev posted an 18-3 overall record, including a 5-1 mark in league play, to earn Big South Conference Men’s Tennis Player of the Year honors. He set a new school season record with 21 singles wins as a junior, going 21-5 at the No. 1 position. He earned All-Conference honors in two different conferences, twice in the Big South (2009 and 2010) and twice in the Atlantic Sun Conference (2007 and 2008). Slesarev was the first male student-athlete in Gardner-Webb history to earn Player of the Year honors from the Big South Conference.
