When Alexis Dimanche broke the Southwestern Pirates men's tennis record for career wins last season, he did it with the hopes his teammates would surpass him soon after his graduation.
After four years of elevating the program, the graduating senior's wish was to see the program grow beyond his accomplishments. Returning this season is a group of tennis players who helped Southwestern crack the national rankings top 25 for the first time in program history.
"I think it elevates the bar, and it's something we hang over our guys' heads. Not only to sustain the high that we've accomplished, but to raise it," head coach Billy Porter said of the team's No. 23 ITA National Ranking. "There's some uncertainty over whether we'll have national rankings this season, but I think the one consistent thing is us just using the term top 25 team. We mention it in practice every day. We mention it in recruiting. I think it adds another element to our program and is something to build off of."
Hunter Bajoit has served as a more than capable understudy for Dimanche for two seasons, earning All-SCAC, SCAC All-Tournament, and SCAC Newcomer of the Year honors in 2018. He finished last season nationally-ranked in doubles and has also been nationally-ranked in singles.
"Hunter has the mindset, work ethic, and talent to make a run for that very tough record to break," Porter said. "He's already in that club of greatest players this program has ever had, and I'm excited to see what he can do over the next two years."
That everything Porter said about Bajoit is right, and yet, he still isn't guaranteed to step into the No. 1 spot is a testament to how rapidly the program is developing.
Southwestern returns Alexander Joseph, a fifth-year senior who transferred from Division II St. Mary's University and earned All-SCAC honors in 2019 while playing in No. 3 singles.
"Alex is excellent at elevating everyone around him. He's the ultimate team player," Porter said. "The biggest thing we've seen from Alex this spring is the impact he's had on the newcomers because of how much of a rock star he is in the way he practices and trains."
Joseph and Bajoit are in the mix for the top spot, with junior Vesko Lekovic closing in surprisingly fast. Lekovic went 4-0 last season, picking up two wins from No. 6 singles, where he was one of the best at that spot in Division III with wins over Division I Incarnate Word, No. 18 Redlands, and No. 24 Cal Tech. He also had a victory each from No. 3 and 5 singles. He played in just two dual matches as a freshman, going 1-1.
"Hunter and Alex have been our two and three the last two years, and they've been quite successful," Porter said. "But a guy to keep an eye on, which we kind of saw last season, is Vesko Lekovic. There's no doubt he's one of, if not the most talented guys on the team. I'm not saying it's going to happen, but don't be surprised if you see him playing No. 1 for us this spring."
The back half of the lineup faces a glaring void with the graduation of Dean Dulthummon, who had been a rock for the Pirates at No. 4 singles, picking up wins time and again against nationally-ranked programs.
"That's an area of concern for us. Who can step up and fill those shoes," Porter said. Steven Tibbets played No. 5 singles, and he's back. Max Pearson returns from injury, and Carlos Esteban Rodero is someone to watch. We have some veterans who've played at 5 and 6, so we kind of know who's in the mix."
Pearson's injury last season allowed Lekovic to settle into the lineup. The previous season, he went 11-7 with a 7-6 record from No. 5 singles. Rodero went a solid 11-3 in 2019, primarily from No. 6 singles, and 2-0 last year. Tibbets was more of a mainstay in 2020 with a 6-1 record as a freshman.
Behind them is a trio of freshman in Millan Fernandez, Anton Borovik, and Drew Shuvalov, who could step into a few matches this season.
"Drew is going to start in doubles in some capacity; he was a 6A UIL State Finalist, so we know what he's capable of," Porter said. "Anton is extremely talented. He has the talent to play on Day 1, I just don't know if he's match ready. Millan is the opposite, he's a late bloomer with a great work ethic and attitude. I definitely expect to see them in some capacity this season."
The Pirates' Achilles' heel remains doubles.
"We're still trying to figure it out. We've done our demos to see who plays well with who, and now we're going to crank it up to see how everything fits," Porter said. "We've done well in singles against Trinity, but we start each match down 0-3 after doubles."
Southwestern will test itself early against a pair of NCAA Division I programs, facing Prairie View on Feb. 13, and Abilene Christian on Feb. 19. They'll also face NCAA Division II St. Mary's University on Feb. 26, and Tyler Junior College on Feb. 27.
"That's something we've planned on doing with whether we've emerged as a program," Porter said. "The list goes on and on in regards to us beefing up our out of conference schedule. It's the best we could do with the parameters of not being able to travel to nationally-ranked Division III teams."
For the first time in school history, the men's tennis team can enter a season saying it's a top 25 program. For those who helped put the program there, that's only the beginning.