ITA UTR Featured Conference of the Week: Peach Belt Men

Since entering the Peach Belt Conference in 1992, the Augusta Jaguars have been a force to reckon with. Their best winning percentage season in recent history came under current head coach, Michael McGrath, having a W-L record of 19-7 as well as a 67% win percentage in PBC play. Two years prior, the Jaguars made program history by reaching the Final Four of the NCAA tournament for the first time. Moreover, the team made 13 additional appearances at the NCAA tournament with nine consecutive appearances from 2007-2015.

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The Georgia College and State University Bobcats have a rich tradition within the PBC and Division II. Just recently, the team was honored for their reoccurring academic success. Two student-athlete represented the Bobcats on the Division II Academic Achievement List. On the court, the GCSU men have appeared 19 times in the NCAA Regional Tournament along with winning the Peach Belt Conference in 2009. During the same season, the team also achieved its biggest title — the NCAA Southeast Regional Champion. Lastly, long-time Head Coach, Steve Barsby, had produced 22 ITA All-American recipients.

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The Young Harris Mountain Lions, located in Georgia, are an established team within the Peach Belt Conference. Former player Raul Quevedo made a mark within the history books. He compiled 89 combined singles and doubles wins throughout his stellar career. Lately, the Mountain Lions were honored as the regional winner of the ITA Community Service Award. The team helped to run a charity tennis tournament with the proceeds going to the Big Brothers Big Sisters foundation.

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The Francis Marion Patriots have always been a contender on the regional and national stage. The team has reached the NCAA Tournament 18 times — three times making the Sweet Sixteen. In 2008, the Patriots put together their deepest run at the NCAAs falling short in the Elite Eight. During that season, the team got a first glimpse at the talent of Dilshod Sharifi, the program leader for win-percentage in singles career-matches. Sharifi, who played for Francis Marion from 2008-2010, won 54 singles matches while just losing four, earning an impressive win percentage of 93.1%.

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Prior to joining the NCAA Division II in 2006, the University of North Georgia Nighthawks competed in the NAIA. The Hawks made six NCAA tournament appearances with the last five being consecutive appearances from 2014-2019. Their highest team ranking came in 2016. The team came in at the No. 18 spot in the Oracle ITA team rankings. Other on-court awards include, four ITA All-Americans, PBC Player of the Year award in 2017 for Niklas Zielen, and PBC Coach of the Year award for Kent Norsworthy in 2016. Off the court, the UNG Hawks have received two consecutive ITA Regional Community Service Awards and placed multiple athletes on the ITA All-Academic Awards list.

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The two time NAIA champions, 1977 and 1986, joined the NCAA Division II in 2007 and played their first year in the PBC in 2010. Combining NAIA and NCAA All-Americans, the team has received 59 awards, with the latest coming in 2020 from Luca Bolla. Their winningest season came in 1977 during their national title run when the team won 32 matches and had a winning percentage of 94.1%. The program was recently named an ITA All-Academic team.

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The first thing that comes to mind when thinking of Lander is their famous coach Dr. Joe Cabri. During his 31 years as the head men’s tennis coach, he won 12 national championship titles, received three Hall of Fame designations, was named National Coach of the Year 10 times, and accrued 56 ITA All-American awards. Arguably his greatest achievement was when the program transitioned from NAIA to NCAA Division II. The Bearcats came ofF two straight NAIA national championships and achieved the unthinkable of winning eight more consecutive championships in their first eight years as being a DII team.

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The Columbus State Cougars have been one of the most consistent teams throughout DII college tennis. Under Coach Isaacs, the team captured their first ever National Championship in 2018, and came close to a repeat in 2019, falling in the championship match. Since 2008, the Cougars attended the NCAA championships every year, adding to their total of 19 NCAA appearances. Additionally, the program collected 25 ITA All-American awards and 39 All-PBC selections. During the shortened Covid-19 season the men were off to an outstanding start, winning all nine of their matches, losing none. They walked away from the inaugural ITA Division II National Team Indoor Championships with the national title.

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