STATESBORO - Georgia Southern men's tennis enjoyed tremendous success during the 2024 Spring season, collecting several firsts, including the program's first regular season Sun Belt Conference title.

It was a year that had a challenging beginning as the Eagles started the year with a 2-6 mark, but charged to an 11-2 finish, that included a seven-match win streak from March 4 through April 6. Included in that win streak was a 4-3 win over No. 49-ranked Old Dominion, which was the first win for the Eagles over a nationally-ranked team since 1980, as well as a 4-2 win over No. 74 Troy, the first win for Georgia Southern in a matchup of nationally-ranked squads.

A 4-1 win at Louisiana on April 14 clinched the Sun Belt Conference regular season title and a No. 1 seed in the SBC Tournament for the Eagles, both firsts, and Georgia Southern was recognized in the league's postseason awards with junior Dimitris Paliouras earning Sun Belt Player of the Year honors, head coach Andrew Goodwin earning Coach of the Year accolades and three Eagles - Paliouras, junior Pol del Castillo and sophomore Aaron James Williams earning All-Conference singles honors.

Even more impressive is that the Eagles enjoyed all of their success with a team that loses only two seniors to graduation - Jacob Mitchell and Judson Blair, who clinched Georgia Southern's 4-3 win over No. 49 ODU on March 24.

On Wednesday, the final 2024 ITA national team rankings were released with Georgia Southern appearing at No. 66. It's the first time in program history that an Eagle men's tennis team has ended the season with an ITA national ranking. Georgia Southern entered the rankings on March 26 and climbed as high as No. 63, another program best, before settling in at the season-ending No. 66 mark.

Georgia Southern finished the year with a 15-9 overall record, and of those 24 matches played, eight came against teams that ended up nationally ranked in the ITA's final rankings.

We had a chance to catch up with Coach Goodwin to talk about such a remarkable season and what lies ahead for Georgia Southern men's tennis.

The achievements and accolades by the Eagles this season are numerous. What do you think was the one facet of this season that allowed Georgia Southern men's tennis to be so successful this Spring?

If I could boil it down to one facet that made the biggest difference for this team throughout the Spring, it would be their clarity on who we are as a program. We put in a lot of work, we had many challenges, and like everyone we had our moments of doubt. But those moments gave us a great opportunity to get to the base of who we are. We are not going to be a program that is selective with our best habits, and we used those opportunities to double down on our values and show each other that we can dig ourselves out of any hole or work to any peak that we want with our season. As we gained clarity on our identity, I felt like the guys' confidence soared and we played free. Because we weren't doing anything different than what we were doing every day. We were being ourselves, and the guys were seeing that if you bring all of who you are with a great standard, you can get it done.

The Eagles finished this season ranked in the ITA team rankings for the first time in program history. What does that do for a program on the national scale and how can Georgia Southern use it to continue building towards the future?

First of all, it's a testament to our guys on the team now but also of the coaching staff and alumni that have come through this program over the years. We wouldn't have had the opportunities we had this year if it weren't for those that came before us. On a national scale, it's huge, because it shows that we have a special thing brewing and a few nice rewards are starting to show themselves. It's a credit to the guys and all the work they have been putting in. In using this to build towards the future? We're going to recognize that we're in the middle of one of the more successful runs this program has ever had. And we're going to make sure that anyone that comes into the program sees that, and is hungry to jump right into it. We are going to keep attacking our day to day process and see how far we can climb. 

Winning the regular season championship but falling short in the tournament is a mixed blessing - you want to celebrate the success but the team feels like there's unfinished business. How do you keep the team focused on doing what it takes to be able to go further next season?

Our program is built on our identity and what we bring every single day. Winning or losing one match isn't going to change that or make us view ourselves any differently. We had so many great lessons learned this past year because we were put in so many situations for the first time. It was incredibly valuable for the guys to see what coming through in those moments is actually going to come down to. I think it's going to give us more clarity moving forward. And we're going to make sure that we constantly are assessing how our day to day actions are adding up to us coming through against the toughest situations. We're not going to avoid the challenges, we are going to tackle them head on.

In addition to the on-court success this season, the team was equally as impressive in the classroom, establishing a new program record for highest GPA and leading all male teams in the department. What does that academic success mean to you as a coach and to the program as a whole?

To me it's great because what we talk about as a program is not just in relation to our tennis. It is about who we are and what standards we have for ourselves. Whatever we are doing, whenever we are doing it, regardless of the situation we are in, this program is going to bring everything we got. It shows me that the guys are bought in and I can't wait for them to keep building our program's standards throughout this next year.