STATESBORO - Georgia Southern men's tennis opens up the 2025 Spring campaign this weekend with three matches in Tallahassee, and for the defending Sun Belt Conference regular season champion Eagles, a lot of eyes are on what a team that returns eight standout student-athletes can do for an encore.
In his first season at the helm of the Eagles, head coach Andrew Goodwin led the team to a program-best national ranking of No. 63 in the ITA Division I team rankings, a pair of wins over nationally-ranked opponents and the first regular season conference championship in program history.
But coach Goodwin's biggest takeaway from the success of last year isn't one result or one specific match, but the overall growth of the team.
"Knowing what our guys collectively worked through, it wasn't always pretty or perfect, but the guys never wavered," Goodwin said. "We had to change a few things multiple times, we had some guys who had to step up in different roles that they've never been in, but the most satisfying thing was that whatever it took to do it, we were willing to do it. The guys had the courage to make some really good jumps."
Fast forward to this season, and another jump from the Eagles might mean a lot of different things, including more national recognition or a possible postseason berth. But coach Goodwin's vision for the program is more long-term. "We're just going to continue the process of doing what it's going to take to get better. Our goals are much higher than one result or one season. We're trying to build something that is going to last for many, many years to come. We want to become a team that's looked at as an elite program."
It doesn't hurt that the Eagles have a pair of seniors who will go into the spring with individual national rankings from the ITA. 2024 Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year Dimitris Paliouras (Sr., Thessaloniki, Greece) represented the league in the Fall at the ITA Conference Masters and begins 2025 as the No. 84-ranked singles player in the nation. Dimitris and his doubles partner, Pol del Castillo (Sr., Tarragona, Spain), begin the year ranked No. 54 in doubles after earning All-SBC honors a year ago.
A third All-Sun Belt honoree returns in Aaron James Williams (Jr., Dusseldorf, Germany), who earned second team singles honors last season. Pierre Mouesca (Jr., Biarritz, France) was an All-Sun Belt singles honoree in 2023, meaning the Eagles will trot out four All-Conference singles players into the lineup in 2025.
Three more seniors also return in Alex Amacher (Sr., Dunwoody, Ga.), Alex Suk (Sr., Macon, Ga.) and Laurent Julia Calac (Sr., Reutlingen, Germany), giving the Eagles a very experienced group this season. Along with Matthew Mitchell (Jr., Vidalia, Ga.), eight of the nine Eagles on the squad this season are juniors or seniors. The only underclassman is incoming freshman Milan Ristov (Fr., Pogdorica, Montenegro).
"I hope it's a strength," Coach Goodwin says about his upperclassman-laden roster. "Selfishly, my thought is that it can be. If you have a lot of upperclassmen, you have a lot of experience - but if you have had bad experience, then it doesn't do anything for you. It can be good for us because a lot has been thrown at our team, in general, over the years. Even before I came here. I think that can serve us well if we have the right perspective about it. If we handle it the right way, knowing that there will be ups and downs during the season, and knowing what we need to do in order to be successful in matches."
The Eagles will have a lot of road tests on the schedule with weekends at No. 9 Florida State, No. 24 Florida and Ole Miss before finally opening up the home schedule on February 9 against South Florida at the Wallis Tennis Center.
The Sun Belt slate begins on March 14 at home against Troy, and the Eagles will also host South Alabama, Louisiana and Southern Miss at Wallis this Spring.
Coach Goodwin saw enough from the Eagles during the Fall season to have high hopes for what will be in store for Georgia Southern this Spring. "Last year, as a first-year head coach, there was a lot of growing. I felt like this year, guys are more clear on what we're trying to do day-to-day. All nine of our guys were more consistent competing. And I know if we do that, then we're going to get where we need to be."
