2008-09 Men's Tennis Season Review
April 20, 2009 | Men's Tennis
The Gardner-Webb men's tennis team saw its season come to an end
in the first round of the Big South's Tennis Championships on
Thursday, April 16 at Winthrop's Memorial Courts where the
fourth-seeded Bulldogs were upset by No. 5 Liberty, 4-1. The men's
tennis program finished 9-17 overall in 2009, 3-4 in
conference.
It was a rough start for the Bulldogs in 2009 as they lost 11 of
their first 12 match-ups, two coming in conference action. In
their fifth match of the season, the Bulldogs swept North
Greenville, 7-0, to notch their first win of the season. The win
also marked the ‘Dogs first home win of the season. Soon
after, the Bulldogs went on a seven-match road trip, falling in all
seven matches.
The Bulldogs' returned home at the beginning of March, which seemed
to be the just the medicine they needed. The ‘Dogs began with
two wins over Pfeiffer and Lenoir-Rhyne, followed by two more home
wins over Erskine and Indiana State. Gardner-Webb's first
conference win also came at home on March 18 as the ‘Dogs
defeated UNC Asheville 5-2. To end the month, the Bulldogs won
three more consecutive home matches including two 4-3 wins over
conference opponents Liberty and Presbyterian. At the end of the
season, the Bulldogs had recorded an impressive 9-2 mark at the
Webb Tennis Complex.
However, if home was medicine for the ‘Dogs, the road seemed
poisonous. Despite the wins at home, the Bulldogs had more road
wins scheduled in 2009 and they couldn't find a way to win any of
them. At the end of the season, the Bulldogs' road record shown
0-13, 0-2 at neutral sites. On a positive note, all of the
conference matches were split 3-3 for home and away, so the
Bulldogs were able to finish 3-3 in conference play to claim fourth
place.
Highlighting the season for the Bulldogs was Gardner-Webb #1
singles player Evgeny Slesarev. Slesarev won nine of his first 12
matches, including a seven-match win streak to begin the season.
Within the twelve matches, the GWU junior tallied wins against #44
Indiana, #26 Wake Forest, #71 UNC Wilmington, and #70 East
Carolina. Only one of his losses came in conference action,
falling in straight sets at Winthrop. Slesarev then proceeded to
win 12 of his next 14 to finish the season with an outstanding 21-5
mark; the most wins by a GWU tennis player since Gardner-Webb made
its move to Division I.
A pair of Bulldogs received All-Conference honors as Slesarev was
voted Singles and Doubles All-Conference, while also being named to
the Big South's All-Academic Team. GWU's Rafael Altmayer was also
honored with Slesarev for Doubles All-Conference as the duo
finished conference doubles with a 3-2 mark.
