Trinity's Mayer, McMindes, Southwesterns' Dimanche Highlight All-SCAC Men's Tennis Team

Trinity's Mayer, McMindes, Southwesterns' Dimanche Highlight All-SCAC Men's Tennis Team

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. - In exclusive voting by the head coaches in the league, Chas Mayer of Trinity University has been selected the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Men’s Tennis Player-of-the-Year – the 10th straight year a Trinity player has earned the honor. His head coach, Russell McMindes, was named the SCAC Men’s Coach-of-the-Year. Complete Release

In that same balloting, Alexis Dimanche of Southwestern University was named SCAC Men’s Newcomer-of-the-Year.

Mayer, a senior from Wilmette, Ill., advanced to the finals of the fall ITA in singles. Currently ranked #10 in the West Region for singles and #14 for doubles by ITA, Mayer has recorded wins this season over the top-ranked player in the Northeast Region (Lubomir Cuba of Middlebury) as well as over a Division I opponent (Joey Vatanadilok of Incarnate Word). He is 16-4 in team matches in doubles this spring with wins over nationally-ranked #2 Emory (twice), #3 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, #14 Whitman, #15 Case-Western, #21 Gustavus-Adolphus, #28 Kenyon (twice), #37 Southwestern as well as Division I opponent UT-San Antonio. He was a two-time SCAC Player-of-the-Week during the regular season and at the 2017 SCAC Tennis Championship, he earned All-Tournament honors for both his singles and doubles play in leading the 13th-ranked Tigers to their eighth straight and conference-record 22nd team title.

In the Player-of-the-Year voting, Mayer received six first-place votes while Alexis Dimanche of Southwestern received the remaining first-place vote. Mayer’s selection marks the 20th time a Trinity student-athlete has been honored as SCAC Men’s Tennis Player-of-the-Year.

Dimanche, a freshman from Mouans-Sartoux, France, earned SCAC Player-of-the-Week honors a league-high three times during the regular season. He was a semifinalist at the ITA Regional Championships this past fall before falling to the region’s top-ranked player. Ranked #17 in the West Region for his singles play, Dimanche picked up singles wins from the #2 position this season over #4 Middlebury, #14 Trinity, #19 Gustavus-Adolphus and #20 UT-Tyler. He finished the regular season with a 20-2 singles mark and partnered with Austin Moninger to post an 18-5 doubles record. Since the league began recognizing a Newcomer-of-the-Year prior to the 2014 season, Dimanche is the first student-athlete from Southwestern to earn the honor.

In the Newcomer-of-the-Year balloting, Dimanche was selected as the top choice on six ballots while Carlos Subealdea of Texas Lutheran University received the remaining first-place vote.

In his eighth season at the helm, McMindes led the Trinity men's team to the program’s 22nd SCAC tournament championship, posting a 5-1 win over Southwestern in the title match. The Tigers are 16-9 in NCAA Competition this year, including a 15-6 mark against Division III opponents. The Trinity men's tennis program now holds the most SCAC Championships of any program in conference history. McMindes has earned at least a share of the Coach-of-the-Year honor in seven of his eight seasons leading the Tigers.

McMindes received four first-place votes from his peers in the Coach-of-the-Year balloting. Ryan Dodd of Austin College received two votes while Billy Porter of Southwestern picked up the remaining first-place vote.

To view the entire All-SCAC Men's Tennis team, click here.