June 23, 2017

Lightning strikes twice for Male Athlete of the Year Mena

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – When Eduardo Mena was named the Co-Male Athlete of the Year with baseball’s Kevin Strohschein in the summer of 2016, it was hardly a surprise. After all, Mena had dominated on the tennis court, helping lead the Golden Eagles to Ohio Valley Conference regular-season and tournament championships, as well as an appearance in the NCAA Tournament, facing off against Ohio State and the country’s top player in Mikael Torpegaard. Mena entered the 2016-17 season with a ranking on the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s standings and kept finding his number rise.

By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – When Eduardo Mena was named the Co-Male Athlete of the Year with baseball's Kevin Strohschein in the summer of 2016, it was hardly a surprise.

After all, Mena had dominated on the tennis court, helping lead the Golden Eagles to Ohio Valley Conference regular-season and tournament championships, as well as an appearance in the NCAA Tournament, facing off against Ohio State and the country's top player in Mikael Torpegaard.

Mena entered the 2016-17 season with a ranking on the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's standings and kept finding his number rise.

And along the way, there wasn't any drop off. Mena continued to dominate.

Who says lightning doesn't strike twice in the same place?

In Mena's case, it certainly did as the spring of 2017 looked a lot like the spring of 2016 as the junior dominated the OVC, going 6-0 in league singles play, helping the Golden Eagles go undefeated in conference competition for the second year in a row and earn both regular-season and tournament crowns once again. He was named the OVC Player of the Year for his efforts.

Tech even earned a spot in the NCAA field once more, although it was another scenic locale as the Golden Eagles ventured to California. Mena even became the second Tech player to compete in the NCAA singles tournament, earning the program's first victory in the event as he upended Baylor's Maxime Tchoutakian 6-4, 7-6 (6).

Without question, Mena has continued to be a force for the Golden Eagles, making him the unanimous choice for the 2017 Tennessee Tech Male Athlete of the Year award.

"I was happy to get the award for a second year in a row," Mena said, "especially with the high-level athletes that were there. But I think it also showed all the good and hard work that I put into this season."

And it was an amazing group of nominees Mena faced for the award – Michael Birdsong, a quarterback who broke Tech's single-season total offense record in his lone campaign with the Golden Eagles; Gilbert Boit, a freshman cross country runner who won every meet and became Tech's first OVC champion in the sport; Dontez Byrd, a transfer wide receiver from Louisville who broke the single-season receiving records; Aleksa Jugovic, one of the top shooters in OVC basketball; Josh Poplar, a sophomore who was a force for the football team's defensive efforts; and Ethan Roberts, a freshman from nearby Sparta who had a solid season as a reliever and was named a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American.

Since the award was introduced in 1994, there haven't been many student-athletes to win the award twice as Mena joined Branon Vaughn (1999 and 2000), Willie Jenkins (2004 and 2005), Scott Stallings (2006 and 2007) and A.J. Kirby-Jones (2009 and 2010) as repeat winners.

As dominant as he was in the spring, Mena did hit a bit of a speed bump in the fall as illness kept him from competing in a few of the tournaments in the front half of the slate. But he persevered, continuing to keep up his efforts.

"I knew I had a fun and competitive season in front of me," Mena said, "and even though I had to miss half of the fall because I got sick, I kept the work going with my coaches and teammates, and, at the end, that is when the results came along."

As the season began with an ITA ranking in front of his name, it also made things a little more difficult.

"I think, at the beginning, it played a factor in my game," Mena said. "I knew I was ranked, so now I thought I had to show people why I was there. But I think my coaches did a good job letting me know that I was the same person as last season and that I just had to play and enjoy the game.

"That took the extra pressure out of my head and made me keep improving. I think the pressure turned into motivation. I just thought on playing to see how high I could go."

Mena was ranked as high as No. 55 on the ITA rankings during the campaign.

And after facing the nation's top player in Torpegaard, it's hard to believe that Mena would have seen tougher competition.

But he felt this season's opponents were, as a whole, a step beyond than what he had been through before.

"The schedule was a little bit tougher, just because I played more ranked players and the fact that I was ranked made every single opponent play their best against me," Mena said. "When people know you are ranked, they are always going to try to beat you. But at the end, I think that I did a good job going just one match at a time and not thinking about future matchups."

It was also a journey that began a long time ago for the native of Bultrago del Lozoya, Spain, as he took up the game at a young age.

"My dad used to play some racket sports and I used to go see him play when I was very young," Mena said. "At that time, I used to get his rackets and start playing against the wall. He realized that I could hit the ball good enough for that age, so even though he had never played the game, he started playing with me in my little town. If I'm here playing tennis, it's because of the sacrifices that my dad and my mom made for me during 15-16 years of their life."

And it has paid off dividends in a huge way as Mena has quickly become one of the most decorated players in Tech tennis history and still has another year to add to his collection on the collegiate level.

This season was capped with a second-straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament as the Golden Eagles got to face the University of California in Berkeley, and it was an experience Mena and his teammates will never forget.

"I think that the trip to California was the highlight to end an amazing season," Mena said. "I think the entire team was very excited about it and we could say that we had so much fun out there. Personally, I would have liked to do a bit better on the court, but the experience and the time we expended together with the team made the trip one to remember."

And being able to make the tournament two seasons in a row and face that kind of competition is something many schools on the mid-major level don't get to experience, making it a major accomplishment.

"It is because it is totally not easy to do," Mena said. "Especially after winning the regular season that easily, all the pressure was on us to win the tournament and every other team was ready to play against us in the tournament. But I'm proud of how the team reacted to that pressure and how we played."

With another season of competition to go, Mena has already set his sights on another set of championships.

"My goal for my last year is to try to keep getting better every day," he said. "I would like to see how far I can get, and I know that if I keep working like this, the results will come. I have a very tough schedule for the fall, so I'm very excited about that.

"But my main goal is probably to be back in the NCAA singles tournament. I am a little bit disappointed with the job I did that, even though it was a good experience, inside me, I think I can do better than that. And that is definitely my goal – to at least try to do my best and go a little bit further in what would be my last tournament as a Golden Eagle."

Tennessee Tech Outstanding Male Athlete of the Year
1994 – Mike Jones (Football)
1995 – Greg Bibb (Basketball)
1996 – Michael Penix (Football)
1997 – Mark Maberry (Baseball)

1998 – Andre Caballero (Football)
1999 – Branon Vaughn (Football)
2000 – Branon Vaughn (Football)
2001 – Chad Evitts (Football)
2002 – Grant Swallows (Football)
2003 – Casey Benjamin (Baseball)
2004 – Willie Jenkins (Basketball)
2005 – Willie Jenkins (Basketball) / Frank Omiyale (Football)
2006 – Scott Stallings (Golf)
2007 – Scott Stallings (Golf)
2008 – Larry Shipp (Football)
2009 – A.J. Kirby-Jones (Baseball)
2010 – A.J. Kirby-Jones (Baseball) / Chad Oberacker (Baseball)
2011 – Zac Swansey (Basketball)
2012 – Tim Benford (Football)
2013 – Syrym Abduhkalikov (Tennis)
2014 – Daniel Miles (Baseball) / Brandon Thomasson (Baseball)
2015 – Alex Arovin (Tennis)
2016 – Eduardo Mena (Tennis) / Kevin Strohschein (Baseball)
2017 – Eduardo Mena (Tennis)

Photos by Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information