Off of the court, there are few programs nationwide that represent themselves better than the Shawnee State women's and men's tennis programs.

That success off of the court is now paying clear dividends with success on the court, as well.

While the women's program was busy matching its single-season win total this past weekend, the men's tennis program broke its own single-season win total, collecting its own convincing victories against Marietta and Mount Vernon Nazarene with 9-0 and 7-0 triumphs Friday in Marietta and Saturday at the Daehler Tennis Courts in Portsmouth.

With the victories, Shawnee State exceeded its previous win total of nine set in the program's second season of existence during the 2017-18 campaign. Those nine wins in 2017-18, however, took 29 matches to get there -- whereas the 10 victories SSU accumulated during the 2023-24 season were accomplished in just 21 affairs.

Two victories in the upcoming River States Conference Tournament, in which Shawnee State is already slotted at the No. 2 seed in it, will allow the Bears to not only clinch their first-ever .500 record in program history, but the first-ever .500 record for both tennis programs.

The three seniors who were honored on Senior Day against Mount Vernon Nazarene -- Keenen Lambert, Zayden Rinehart and Aiden White -- are not only loyal members of the men's tennis program but well-accomplished individuals as well in the classroom.

Rinehart, who has already earned a bachelor's degree in occupational therapy, currently holds an unblemished 4.0 GPA as a graduate student in the MOT program while Lambert has a 3.92 GPA as a graduating senior in graphic design. White, meanwhile, holds a 3.74 mark as a plastics engineering technology major. All three will be named as NAIA Scholar-Athletes later this spring.

Friday, April 19 -- Shawnee State 9, Marietta 0

In a thrilling doubles match, the No. 1 doubles pairing of Adam Stanley and Ivan Wularu teamed up for an 8-7 victory over Marietta's Elijah Kuhl and Elivh Perez, while the No. 2 doubles pairing of Matthew Justice and Aiden Pine nabbed an 8-2 victory over Marietta's George Fazah and Matthew McIntire.

From a singles perspective, Shawnee State simply dominated play as the Bears collected victories in 48 out of the 53 games played to roll to the win. Wularu and Stanley collected wins over Kuhl and Perez at No. 1 and No. 2 singles by identical 6-1, 6-0 counts, while Justice swept McIntire by straight 6-0, 6-0 counts at No. 3 singles. Pine finished off the win with a triumph over Fazah at No. 4 singles, winning 6-2, 6-1 to complete matters.

Saturday, April 20 -- Shawnee State 7, Mount Vernon Nazarene 0

From a doubles standpoint, the senior doubles tandem of Keenen Lambert and Zayden Rinehart, who got the assignment at No. 1 doubles as an ode to the pair, understood the assignment and nabbed a doubles victory on Senior Day, collecting a 6-3 triumph over Mount Vernon Nazarene's Austin Faucett and Andrew Hare. The No. 2 doubles pairing of Matthew Justice and Aiden White lost by a scant 7-5 count to MVNU's Matt Easter and Noah Hill but SSU still claimed the doubles point as a team due to a default by the Cougars at No. 3 doubles.

Shawnee State faced little resistance at the singles positions -- as the Bears, from No. 1 through No. 5 singles, nabbed five 6-0 victories of the 10 contested sets and won 60 out of the 65 games in all between the five singles matches that were ultimately played.

Lambert and White, playing at No. 3 and No. 4 singles, respectively, fittingly delivered with 6-0, 6-0 triumphs over Faucett and Hill in their slots, while Abubakar Yakabu Lea continued his stellar freshman season, claiming a 6-1, 6-0 triumph at No. 1 singles over Hare. Rinehart allowed the senior trio to go undefeated in singles matches Saturday with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Easter at No. 2 singles while Aiden Pine completed the strong showing with a 6-2, 6-1 victory at No. 5 singles over Mount Vernon Nazarene's Ryan Wolfe.

Additional

With regular season play in the books for Shawnee State, the Bears (10-11) will turn their attention to the upcoming River States Conference Tournament, which will be held in Evansville, Ind. next Friday and Saturday. Updates on the tournament will be coming later in the week.

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