The No. 11 Tiger Men's Tennis team kicks off their first road weekend of the spring season taking on Hardin-Simmons and St. Mary's.
Last Time
This past weekend, the Tigers (2-0) defeated Lewis & Clark in its season opener 6-1, along with defeating Our Lady of the Lake (OLLU) 5-2 hours later at the
Butch Newman Tennis Center.
Against Lewis & Clark, doubles began with
Ryan Warren (Keller, Texas / Connections Academy) and
Connor Whittington (Lake Oswego, Ore. / Lake Oswego) earning a 6-2 win at line three, then
Jared Perry (Tucson, Ariz. / Catalina Foothills) and
Roshin Kamath (League City, Texas / Clear Springs) clinched the doubles point with a 6-3 win at line two. The top-line team of
Rocco Mendez (Las Vegas, Nev. / Odyssey Charter School) and
Kishan Kersten (Plano, Texas / West) clinched a doubles sweep for the Tigers with a 7-6 (7-0) win in a tiebreaker. Whittington began the scoring in singles with a quick 6-0, 6-0 win at line four to make it a 2-0 Trinity lead, then
Eric Liao (Taipei, Taiwan / Boca Prep) won 6-1, 6-1 at line six.
Later in the day, Trinity and OLLU split the first two doubles matches with Mendez and Kersten winning 6-4 at line one and
Aashish Dhanani (Austin, Texas / Westwood) and Liao clinched the doubles points for the Tigers with a 6-4 win. Singles continued with Kersten giving Trinity a 2-0 lead with a 6-2, 6-2 win at line five. Liao then picked up another line six victory to clinch, rallying to win a three-set thriller 3-6, 6-1, 6-1.
SCAC Doubles Team Of The Week - Rocco Mendez & Kishan Kersten
For the first time in each of their careers, First-Year
Rocco Mendez & Sophomore
Kishan Kersten have won SCAC Doubles Team Of The Week
From the SCAC Press Release:
Mendez, a first-year from Las Vegas, Nev., and Kersten, a sophomore from Plano, Texas, led the 11th-ranked Tiger men's tennis team to a 2-0 start this week as the top line duo earned a pair of wins to open the 2025 season. Mendez and Kersten finished off a doubles sweep against Lewis & Clark (Ore.) with a 7-6 (7-0) win, then were the first team to finish en route to winning the doubles point with a 6-4 win against Our Lady of the Lake (Texas).
SCAC Singles Player Of The Week - Eric Liao
For the 5th time in his career, Senior
Eric Liao has won the SCAC singles player of the week. (2023: 5-time Singles, 4-time Doubles)
From the SCAC Press Release:
Liao led the 11th-ranked Trinity men's tennis team to a pair of wins to open the 2025 season on Saturday, knocking off both Lewis & Clark (Ore.) College and NAIA Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) University. Liao earned two wins at line six for the Tigers on Saturday, beginning with his 6-1, 6-1 victory against Lewis & Clark early in the afternoon. Later in the day against OLLU, Liao clinched the match for Trinity with his 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 win.
Preview - Road trip to Abilene
The Tigers look to continue their winning form as they travel to Abilene for their first road weekend of the year to face Hardin-Simmons on Friday, February 7th, at 12pm. Then, the Tigers will play against NCAA II St. Mary's on Saturday at 10am.
On the Hardin-Simmons Cowboys: The Cowboys concluded their 2024 campaign with an 8-12 record, where they qualified for the ASC tournament. They were successful in the first round match against the University of Ozarks, however they fell in the second round against East Texas Baptist 3-5. They kicked off their 2025 spring season with a setback to Division 1 crosstown rival Abilene Christian, and will be looking to get their first win of the season on Friday as the Tigers come to town.
On the St. Mary's Rattlers: The Rattlers are 2-0 so far this season after sweeping Schreiner and Jacksonville. Last season, St. Mary's put up a 6-10 record and got knocked out in the first round of the Lone Star Conference tournament by UT Tyler. They will look to senior and number one singles player Alvaro Soler to help them gain early traction against the Tigers. This will be the first time that these two teams have played since the 2017 spring season, where the Tigers lost to the Rattlers 7-2. In their last five matchups, however, the Tigers are 4-1 against St. Mary's.
The Cowboys will look to the experienced senior Brice Bradshaw to get their spring season rolling. Brice did not compete in the Cowboys season opener last week against Abilene Christian, however in the fall season he recorded a steady 4-3 record in singles and a 3-1 record in doubles. Last time out, Trinity defeated the Cowboys 8-1 in the 2023-2024 season. The Tigers' record against Hardin-Simmons stands at an impressive 15-0 since 2009.
Looking Ahead
The Tigers will take on crosstown rivals Incarnate Word in a midweek match at
Butch Newman Tennis Center on Wednesday, February 12th. They will then travel to Austin next Saturday February 15th, to face Concordia at River Place Country Club.
