GREENWOOD, Ind. – The continuous rise of the Davis & Elkins men’s tennis program climaxed with the celebration of another Great Midwest Athletic Conference championship this spring.
D&E finished the 2015 spring with a 7-9 overall record while toppling its main conference rival Cedarville in two separate matches by respective scores of 5-4 (April 4) and 8-1 (April 13). The Senators are now back-to-back G-MAC champs after beating Cedarville and Central State last year.
A pair of matches vs. Central State were declared as no contests, but were reflected accordingly in the conference standings only.
The Senators were 7-9 overall and under head coach Otis Cutshaw, the progression of several key contributors were elevated to higher levels.
“We understand the strength of the Midwest (Region) and know what we have to do to compete with the teams in it,” said Cutshaw. “We have become the hunted and when you’re hunted, people are after you. They knew where they were playing for all season long.”
Like most of the spring sports associated with the conference, weather wreaked havoc on certain parts of the schedule. Several matches were cancelled early in February, but the team grew by leaps and bounds in Hilton Head, S.C., over spring break.
D&E concluded the regular season with a 6-3 win vs. regional foe Tiffin, a program opponent that beat Senators’ opponents Ohio Dominican and Findlay.
Cutshaw’s talented international imports include countries represented around the world like France, Brazil and the United Kingdom.
The reliable French pipeline for Cutshaw through his recruiter brought Vincent Hamon, Charles Brunel and Simon Meriau, all to Elkins, W.V., to pursue their collegiate careers.
The G-MAC Player of the Year Hamon is one of those overseas products that manned the No. 1 position in singles all year and assembled a 9-7 overall record in head-to-head matchups.
Another talented upperclassman, the junior Brunel, also recently named D&E’s Athlete of the Year, has compiled an impressive 50-16 record in singles throughout the course of his career so far.
Brunel fashioned a 12-4 record from the No. 2 position and finished the spring as a winner in nine of his last 10 singles contests.
Hamon, Brunel and Simon Meriau, won both of their G-MAC singles bouts against Cedarville. Meriau missed the trip to Hilton Head, but it opened the door for other team members to gain valuable experience.
Meriau turned in a 6-3 overall singles record. He and Brunel also swept both doubles matches against Cedarville.