Men’s Tennis
As the winter sports start to an end, the spring sports begin to rise. The Piedmont Men’s Tennis team is ready to hit the courts with their senior leadership and fresh talent. The team looks promising, with their head coach, Matt Williams, going into his 4th season with Piedmont. They have a competitive year ahead, but that doesn’t stop them from lifting the conference trophy.
Last season, the Lions finished 19-7, breaking the single-season wins record here at Piedmont. They won the regular season conference championship, and Charles Parnell was conference rookie of the year. Also, they were named an ITA All-Academic team for the third straight year.
“There is more individual talent on this year’s squad than on any I have coached,” said head coach Matt Williams. “It remains to be seen if we can turn that into good results for the team.”
This year’s team has many strengths and hopes to reach their potential and beat the competition. This year’s schedule looks like one of the hardest they had in a while, but this won’t stop them.
“The only expectations I have for them are to be a good teammate and try their hardest every day,” said Williams.
Winning every match and supporting each other will potentially get them to win the regular season and the conference championship, as well as make it to the NCAA tournament. That is their ultimate team success.
Their first exhibition match is on Feb. 9th at 5 p.m. as they face Samford University to kick off the spring season.
Women’s Tennis
The champions of the CCS are back to dominate the spring season. The Piedmont Women’s Tennis team was undefeated in the conference regular season with an overall record of 24-4. After winning its first-ever conference tournament title in 2022 in the team’s last season in the USA South, Piedmont has captured back-to-back CCS Tournament Titles.
Head coach Trey Martin earned his 100th career win this season and was named CCS Coach of the Year for the second consecutive year, marking his third conference Coach of the Year in the past four seasons. Also, Abbey Grace Venham, the two-time CCS Player of the Year, graduated. With seven freshmen joining the team, it will be tough shoes to fill in this season.
“We have some challenges this year, one being Asbury because they are new in our conference so we have no idea how good they are,” said sophomore Olivia Carpenter. “We also have Covenant as well so those are the main big challenges.”
That’s why, during the preseason, the Lady Lions were just trying to figure out the lineup and where people would play to the best of their abilities. They are just working on shaking off the rust from the December break.
“Our biggest strength is our depth,” said head coach Trey Martin. “We have so many talented girls on the team. It’s just going to be a challenge figuring out how all those pieces work together.”
“Our main goals for the team are to have great team chemistry, win the regular season and conference championship, and try to win a round in the conference tournament,” said Martin.
The first match will be held here at Piedmont at the Burgen Tennis Courts on Feb. 8th at 11 a.m. The Lady Lions will look forward this season looking for a four-peat. Make sure to go to www.piedmontlions.com to be updated with both teams.
