MOBILE, Ala. – Spring Hill College (SHC) men & women's tennis head coach John Dotson is confident heading into the 2018 campaign. "Injuries hurt both our teams last year," he says. "But this year I expect our men to challenge for the top spot in the conference and I see our women's team finishing in the top three."
 
On the men's side, Dotson is excited to see that his freshmen are already showing enthusiasm and maturity. "Freshmen Cedric Nitz from Pfaffenhofen, Germany, and Ricardo Pena of Mexico City, Mexico, are both ready to step right into our Number 1 and 2 spots on the singles court," he says. "They are already showing a lot of promise." Senior team captain Lars Bajohr of Versmold, Germany, returns for his fourth season as a starter and looks to have settled into the Number 3 court while fellow captain and senior Andrew Risley of Ocean Springs, Miss., along with junior Ferdinand Amanor from Murphy High School in Mobile will share time on the Number 6 court. Sophomore Kurt Shiell of Mandeville, La., will handle the chores on the Number 4 court and freshman Chris Mines of Birmingham, Ala., will step onto the Number 5 court in his debut season. Junior Frank Amanor from Murphy HS and sophomore Brandon Harden of Mount Vernon, Ala., will also see time as the season progresses.
 
In the doubles play, Nitz and Bajohr will face the challenges of the Number 1 court as Pena and Shiell team together at the Number 2 position. Risley and Mines will anchor SHC doubles play on the Number 3 court.
 
The women's team is not as clear-cut a decision as the men's lineup for Dotson as the 2018 season approaches. "We are fairly well settled as to our top three singles players," he says. "But 4 through 6 are still up in the air. We have four local Gulf Coast-area freshmen coming into the program and I expect all four to contribute to the program immediately."
 
On the Number 1 singles court, junior Madison Artigues of New Orleans, La., appears to have nailed down the position while sophomore Rebecca Pearlman of Vestavia, Ala., looks to step into the Number 2 role. Freshman Mary Roane from Ormond Beach, Fla., will take the Number 3 singles court to begin her collegiate career, but after that, Dotson says the fight is well underway for the remaining spots. Senior Elizabeth Peters of St. Louis, Mo. and junior Brenda Carrada of Mexico City, along with freshmen Jasmine Agadzi of Pensacola, Fla., Omega-Latrese Davison of Moss Point, Miss., and Alexandria Rayford from W.P. Davidson High School in Mobile are battling it out for the final three courts. Sophomore dual-sport athlete Athina Amanor from Murphy HS will also see action as her Track schedule permits.
 
The women's doubles will feature Artigues and Pearlman on the Number 1 court with Roane and Peters handling the Number 2 court. For the early matches of the year, the Number 3 court will be an experiment among various players as Dotson decides the best chemistry for his team.
 
"This will be an interesting season to watch unfold," says Dotson. "We have a nice mix of young players and experienced veterans that will face a challenging, but not impossible schedule. In the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) you have to play a lot of tennis over very few days, so anything can happen. I see us being the type of teams that can emerge from that pack at the top of the standings."
 
The Badger men open the 2018 season on Sunday at the Mobile Tennis Center with a match versus the Birmingham-Southern College Panthers at 8 a.m. followed by a men & women's match versus the University of Montevallo at 1 p.m.