Roughly five years ago, Southwestern head tennis coach Billy Porter sent Alexis Dimanche '20, then the program's No. 1 player, to the admissions center to meet high school seniors Hunter Bajoit '22 and Carlos Esteban Rodero '22 for a recruiting visit. 

"My first impression was he was tall, imposing, and quite confident. We ended up hitting together, and he has this big serve that just stood out," Dimanche recalls. "He made it clear he wanted to play No. 1, which I loved because it was an opportunity for us to improve. He was confident and wanted to make an impact and be a leader immediately." 

Over their two seasons together at Southwestern and the two years that followed with Dimanche still near the program while attending graduate school at the nearby University of Texas, the two grew from a pupil-mentorship dynamic as teammates to peers and friends as Bajoit grew into his leadership role and made the program his. 

So, when Bajoit finally reached 132 wins to surpass Dimanche's record this season as the program's all-time career wins leader on the biggest of stages, no one was as happy as Dimanche. 

"I was super proud of him and him breaking the record is exactly what I wanted for the program," Dimanche says. "No one on the team loves tennis or is as invested as Hunter, and I've always respected him for that. So I'm glad to see the record broken by someone as passionate about tennis as I am." 

Dimanche helped put Southwestern men's tennis on the map and passed the torch to Bajoit, who helped elevate the team to a national program, making its first NCAA Tournament appearance a year ago. 

This year, Bajoit wrapped up one of the most decorated careers in Southwestern history with an excellent senior season. 

Bajoit opened the year with a stellar performance at the ITA Fall Regional Championships, becoming the first Southwestern men's tennis player to advance to the singles championship match while also advancing to the championship in doubles, finishing as the runner-up in both. He ended the season with a 16-6 record at No. 1 singles and a 15-7 record in doubles in dual meets, earning All-SCAC First Team and another NCAA singles qualifier, where he became the first two-time All-American in the men's program's history. 

Southwestern men's tennis ended the season ranked No. 19 in the nation, and Bajoit ended his career as the No. 14 singles player in the country. By leading the men's tennis program to national success and through individual accolades, Bajoit is awarded the 2022 Dr. Tex Kassen Southwestern Men's Athlete of the Year award. Bajoit has become the first back-to-back Kassen award winner since baseball's Will Cates accomplished the feat in 2015 and 2016.

"It's an honor to have this award, especially for a second time," Bajoit says. "A lot went into this season for the team and me. But, for me, it's always been about the team, and individual honors flow from that." 

Bajoit entered the program as one of its most talented recruits and the cornerstone of 2018's No. 16-ranked recruiting class in the nation. He leaves the program as a perfect example of how the men's tennis team has risen to national prominence, taking the lessons of those who came before, adding to them, and passing them down to the next generation of Pirates. 

"It's more about personal development than tennis development," Bajoit says. "Becoming a better person, being kinder, and more disciplined leads to better results on the court. As a leader, I've wanted to help people recognize that the better they are as people, the better they will be as tennis players." 

Bajoit always had the talent and good intentions to lead Southwestern; it just took growing into the role through trial and error. Dimanche recalls a moment during Bajoit's first season where the young freshman's vision for the program knew no bounds. 

"His freshman year, that entire class was vocal and extremely confident," Dimanche recalls. "We had Bowdoin, the runner-up in the national championship the year before, on the schedule. They were counting down the days until that match talking about what's next after we beat them, and I loved the confidence, but I was giggling because I'd seen how good they were, and I knew it wasn't going to be an easy task." 

Southwestern lost that match 8-1, with Bajoit losing his singles match 6-0, 6-3, and dropping his doubles match 8-1. The following season, Bajoit and Hemanshu Rambojun defeated three Trinity doubles teams in the 2019 ITA Fall Regionals but lost to a team from McMurry in the championship match. Porter calls it a turning point, but Bajoit views it differently. 

"It's more of a significant moment than a turning point. I think my intention has always been to help the team, I just needed to learn what it needed from me, and I was able to learn and deliver more on that as I got more experience," Bajoit explains. "That was an important match with a lot of pressure, and there was much to learn from that loss." 

Through the ups and downs, Bajoit grew as a leader without ever losing the brash confidence he displayed as a freshman. 

"In 2020, right before COVID canceled the season, we were playing Redlands, and he was on the court next to me," Dimanche says of Southwestern's win over No. 18-ranked Redlands. "We were down 2-1 after doubles, and I was struggling, but he absolutely destroyed their No 2 player. I love how locked in he was. That early point gave us momentum as we pushed and encouraged each other." 

The following year, Bajoit finally became Southwestern's undisputed no. 1 near the end of the season, fulfilling his early career proclamation with a firmer grasp of everything that came with it. 

"His last two years, he was the most disciplined person I've seen, but that wasn't always the case," Dimanche says. "Hunter was always good about communicating with me and learning, so I would always tell him if you wanted to be no. 1, you can't cut corners. If you want to be no. 1, it can't just be because you have the best serve or the best forehand. There's a lot of responsibility off the court. It's about the image you show your teammates and how you represent the team." 

Since his sophomore year, no one has devoured as much film or been as dedicated to their craft as Bajoit. But, more importantly, no one has stayed after practice as often to help teammates get better. Those qualities ultimately led Porter and the tennis team to select Bajoit as its Sam Merrill award-winner, which celebrates humility, competitiveness, and academic achievement. 

"Back during his freshman year, never did I think I'd be giving him the award in a million years," Porter jokes. "But he's one of the hardest-working guys I've had, and he's always trying to help the team get better, talking about his experiences to help them prepare for the big matches we play. Hunter bought into our program, and that has trickled down. The individual accolades are fantastic, but he's a team-first guy." 

Bajoit used what he learned to lead his team through a rough start, navigating internal issues the men's program hadn't dealt with before. 

"Every season comes with its challenges, and this year we had some questions in the lineup where people thought they should play," Bajoit says. "They had to learn if you want to contribute in the lineup on a high-level team, it couldn't be because your teammate failed but because you had to put in the work and earn it."

Southwestern recovered and finished with a 15-7 record. Bajoit tied Dimanche with 131 career wins in the SCAC Tournament semifinals in a win over Colorado College, leading Southwestern to the SCAC Championship match against Trinity. He was down 1-0 but tied 5-5 in the second set against Trinity when the Tigers clinched, delaying Bajoit's opportunity to overtake Dimanche in the wins column. 

That set the stage for Bajoit's historic win at the NCAA Tournament, where he faced national runner-up Case Western Reserve's Ansh Shah in the first round, drawing on his four years of experience to emerge victorious in three sets. 

"It was a tough match against a great player. [Shah] played for the team that lost in the national championship, and he hadn't lost to a Divison III opponent all year," Hunter says. "I was able to go out and play through the pressure the way I wanted to play, and when the winning moment finally hit, it was amazing knowing everything that was on the line that I accomplished with that one win." 

Bajoit joined a men's tennis program just outside the top 30 nationally with one All-American on the roster and left Southwestern firmly entrenched in the top 20 for two consecutive years, two All-American awards, and another top-23 recruiting class. 

"Leaving the program in a better place than you found it is important to the program's longevity," Bajoit says. "I hope I was an example to the younger guys I played with so they can do it well and build the program better. Hopefully, it will be someone already on the team who will eventually break my record."