FOREST, Va. --- Spring sports have been extraordinarily successful for the ODAC and its member schools in recent seasons, lending to a lot of excitement as the weather turns warmer in the final third of the academic year. That was true of the 2020 campaign as well before competition was halted due to the climate surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, some of the ODAC's best teams and student-athletes did take to their respective arenas and gave us a glimpse of what could have been an outstanding season.

In this installment of a series of season wrap-up features designed at recognizing some of those early achievements in the conference's spring sports, we take a look at the ODAC's men's tennis programs.

In addition to the sections below showcasing a conference-wide view of the sport, wrap-ups and features from our member schools will be included to provide a more in-depth perspective for each program. The school features are posted at the bottom of this release and will be included as they become available.

CONTINUED DOMINANCE

Washington and Lee University tennis -- men's or women's for that matter -- has enjoyed a dominating history since ODAC play began in 1977 on the men's side of the ledger and 1983 in the women's ranks. W&L's men have won 38 of the 43 ODAC championships bestowed by the league, including each of the past 10 crowns. The Generals' women have hoisted 29 of the 37 trophies handed out, bringing the Generals' totals to 67 tennis titles out of 80 awarded.

How the 2020 season would have gone towards continuing W&L's streak is a bit unknown. Conference teams only played a smattering of league matches before play was suspended with several not yet squaring off against a single league foe. Washington and Lee and Randolph-Macon College were 2-0 in early conference action at the top of the league table.

STARTING OFF THE SPRING SEASON STRONG

The University of Lynchburg had rattled off the most victories in the league in early dual matches, jumping out to a 6-3 start. That included an ODAC win over Ferrum College and a 3-2 spring break trip with victories over Cornell College, Gordon College, and Lake Forest College.

Randolph-Macon College opened with a 4-1 record in early spring matches. That included two conference wins over Emory & Henry College and Shenandoah University and solid regional wins over St. Mary's College (Md.) and Marymount University (Va.).

Washington and Lee's record is a little misleading at 5-4 given its overall difficulty. In addition to conference wins over Emory & Henry and Randolph College, the Generals topped nationally 33rd-ranked Salisbury University and strong squads from Christopher Newport University and Wittenberg University. Three of W&L's losses came to nationally ranked Pomona-Pitzer Colleges (17), Redlands University (24), and North Carolina Wesleyan College (31). Its other loss was to Division I member University of Virginia.

EARLY SUCCESS AT ITA REGIONALS

Several ODAC teams took part in the ITA Division III Regional Small College Championships in late September and early October with several individuals and/or doubles tandems posting successful results. Conference players competed at either the Southeast Regional Championships hosted by the University of Mary Washington or the South Regional Championships hosted by Berry College.

Southeast Regional | Championship Flight -- W&L's Harry Shepherd and Canon Secord from Bridgewater College highlighted the singles flight as they both won twice to reach the round of 16 before bowing out to nationally-ranked opponents. Shepherd and doubles partner John Rudden took it a step further. They defeated BC's Secord and Matthew Gordon in the round of 32 and then downed a pair from Christopher Newport University in the round of 16 before falling to nationally-sixth ranked Joseph Cartledge and Austin Gu from Johns Hopkins University

B1 Flight -- Roanoke College's Jack Fishwick earned a place in the quarterfinals of the singles draw before exiting the bracket. W&L's Rudden made up for an early loss by qualifying for the consolation semifinals. In doubles play, Hampden-Sydney College duo of Grayson Burns and Clark Cummings won twice before an 8-5 decision to a pair from Franklin & Marshall College saw them exit in the semifinals. Both Lynchburg's Daniel Christian and Colton Mullins and RC's Fishwick and Grayson White reached the consolation semifinals with the Maroons' duo winning their contest (no consolation final was competed).

B2 Flight -- Virginia Wesleyan University's Mitchell Perry was the lone ODAC player in the singles draw as he reached the quarterfinal round. In doubles play, H-SC's Patrick Conde and Andrew Donelson came up a victory shy of taking home the title as they won three times, including a tight 8-6 result over a team from Lebanon Valley College, before falling in the final to Jason Edmonds and Abhinav Nallapareddy from Haverford College. Bridgewater's Sonet Gandhi and Nick Kiser reached the quaterfinals with a win in the round of 16.

B3 Flight -- Lynchburg's Mullins defeated Virginia Wesleyan's Henry West in the quarterfinals of the singles draw, but came up short of the finals in a loss to Ethan Garren from St. Mary's College (Md.) in the semifinals. Hampden-Sydney's Cummings won the consolation final with a 6-2, 6-2 triumph over Andrew Lai from Dickinson College.

B4 Flight -- Bridgewater's Gordon and Lynchburg's Christian reached the consolation semifinals of the singles draw and won those matches (no final was competed). Gordon topped Jack Brandenburg from St. Mary's, while Christian defeated Roanoke's Grayson White. He downed H-SC's Burns in the consolation quarterfinals.

South Regional | Flight A -- Guilford College's Elijah Gregory and Mason Robb reached the round of 32 in the singles draw. Fellow Quaker Drake Schreiber won a consolation round of 32 match to reach the consolation round of 16. In doubles play, GC's Joe Horne and Schreiber earned a round of 16 spot, while Gregory and Robb teamed to reach the quarterfinals of the consolation bracket.

Flight B -- Guilford's Jay Montague and Dominik Pocrnja won a round of 32 match before falling in the round of 16 in the doubles draw.

Flight C -- Emory & Henry College's Archer Marlow won a round of 32 match before falling in the round of 16 in the singles draw. Guilford's duo of Kai Glass and Tim Thompson reached the finals of the doubles consolation bracket before falling in a tiebreak to Jared Jones and Tristan Smallwood from Covenant College.

RANK 'EM

Washington and Lee featured in the final rankings published by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA). The Generals finished the year ranked 32nd in Division III and just outside the Atlantic South Region's top-10.

On singles and doubles charts, W&L seniors Harry Shepherd and Mitchell Thomas as well as sophomore John Rudden are joined by Bridgewater College sophomore Canon Secord in the final tables. Shepherd went 8-3 in singles play on the way to ranking 34th nationally and eighth in the region. Thomas, at 6-6, slotted 22nd in the region. Shepherd and Rudden teamed up to post a 5-4 record and earn eighth position on the region's doubles list.

Secord posted an 8-2 singles record towards recognition as the 20th-ranked player in the region.

ODAC/VIRGINIA FARM BUREAU INSURANCE SCHOLAR-ATHLETE

Washington and Lee senior Mitchell Thomas is now a two-time winner of the ODAC/Virginia Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete of the Year award for men's tennis, pairing this honor with his 2019 prize. Thomas maintains a 3.781 grade point average as an economics major. He is soon to be a four-time honoree as an Academic All-ODAC honoree in addition to recognition on the W&L's President's List and as a W&L Scholar-Athlete. He was inducted the Phi Eta Sigma honor society as the nation's oldest such institution for broad-subject recognition for first-year students.

On the court, Thomas will graduate with more than 100 combined career victories with a 45-31 singles record and a 56-26 doubles mark. He earned several All-ODAC honors including first team accolades at #5 singles and #3 doubles in 2017, second team honors at #2 singles in 2018, and second team recognition at #2 singles and first team distinction at #1 doubles in 2019. He finished this year as the 22nd-ranked player in the ITA Atlantic South Region singles rankings with a 6-6 mark. He was 6-4 in all doubles matches this year.

DEVELOPING STORYLINES AND PLAYERS WE WOULD HAVE FOLLOWED

• Secord's Second Act | Bridgewater sophomore Canon Secord earned a pair of special honors in his first season wearing Eagles' colors in 2019. He claimed both ODAC Player and Rookie of the Year laurels as BC's top-flight competitor. This season, he was one of four players to lead the league with an .800 winning percentage. His 8-2 record marked the most number of victories of those four players. He and partner Matthew Gordon were also 6-2 in doubles play.
• The Brothers Moody | Hampden-Sydney's senior twins Matthew and Michael Moody made quite a name for themselves in their first three seasons at H-SC. They paired up to earn three straight All-ODAC First Team nods at #1 doubles and were well on their way to achieving a fourth set awards. They had already racked up a 10-5 record playing thru three fall tournaments and nine dual matches in the spring.
• Shepherd's Legacy | Washington and Lee senior Harry Shepherd had put together an impressive career even before this season began. The 2018 ODAC Player of the Year finished that season ranked 33rd in the country and seventh in the Atlantic South Region by the ITA. He finished 2019 as the 16th-rated player in the region. As noted above, he concluded this year ranked 34th nationally and eighth in the region.

THE ODAC HAS SOME REALLY GOOD COACHES

Good coaching is a staple up and down the ODAC's ranks of sponsored sports. From promising newcomers to those with established cultures and even a few with hall of fame credentials, there are no shortage of quality mentors for the league's student-athletes.

Five active coaches have earned ODAC Coach of the Year laurels. W&L's David Detwiler leads the way with four honors in 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2013. Guilford's Dave McCain earned the award in 2015 and 2018, while VWU's Marty Perry received his peers' nods in 2016 and 2019. Bridgewater's Jordon Robinson was honored in 2017, and Randolph-Macon's Charles Gray was recognized in 2014.

Detwiler crossed the 300-win plateau earlier this season as he owns a .707 winning percentage in dual matches. Perry (189), Lynchburg's Chris Johnson (140), and McCain (108) each have won more than 100 matches. Perry is approaching 400 career wins as he has posted 198 victories as a women's coach to bring his overall total to 387.

Hampden-Sydney second-year mentor Byron Balkin enjoyed much success at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater before taking the Tigers' reins, earning Wilson/ITA Women's Tennis National Assistant Coach of the Year honors in 2016 and coaching 20 All-Americans as an assistant for both Warhawk programs.

Below is a snapshot of the ODAC's active head coaches and their career records thru this season. The totals below represent their records in men's tennis dual matches only.

• Jordon Robinson, BC | 57-75 in 8 overall seasons / 52-47 in 6 seasons at Bridgewater
• Christine Johnston, E&H | 13-26 in 3 seasons
• Rod Baker, FC | 26-63 in 6 seasons
• Dave McCain, GC | 108-123 in 15 overall seasons / 87-72 in 10 seasons at Guilford
• Byron Balkin, H-SC | 16-16 in 2 seasons
• Chris Johnson, LYN | 140-147 in 14 overall seasons / 23-23 in 3 seasons at Lynchburg
• Jamie Megginson, RAND | 49-108 in 10 seasons at Randolph
• Charles Gray, R-MC | 80-73 in 11 seasons
• Daniel Ragsdale, RC | 1-4 in 1 season
• Jason Cole, SU | 0-5 in 1 season
• Marty Perry, VWU | 189-148 in 16 overall seasons / 51-47 in 5 seasons at Virginia Wesleyan
• David Detwiler, W&L | 302-125 in 20 seasons

Click one of the graphics below to be taken to that school's season wrap-up feature. These features will be added as our members complete them.

For more on ODAC men's tennis, visit the websites of any of the participating schools, or go to the ODAC's home on the Internet at www.odaconline.com. Don't forget to become a fan of the ODAC on Facebook and following @odacathletics on Twitter and Instagram.