Season Preview: Men’s Tennis primed for another successful season in 2023-24

By Wes Mayberry 

| 2023-24 Men's Tennis Schedule | 2023-24 Men's Tennis Roster |

ADA — With very little roster turnover following a successful 2022-23 season, the Ohio Northern men's tennis team is primed for another great year in 2023-24.

Now in his second season at ONU, reigning Ohio Athletic Conference Coach of the Year Sean Swisher welcomes back four All-OAC honorees and eight lettermen overall from the 2022-23 team that finished 13-8 overall, including 5-1 in OAC play. Last year's group earned a share of the OAC Regular Season championship and later won a second consecutive OAC Tournament title to clinch a berth in the NCAA Tournament. After falling 5-4 to Kalamazoo (Mich.) in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, the Polar Bears enter 2023-24 with plenty of motivation to make an even deeper postseason run.

This year's group is led by senior Kavya Desai (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) and juniors Peyton Specht (Munster, Ind.), Sam Sran (Punjab, India/St. Stephens and Gian Jyoti Global) and Drew Swisher (Findlay). Desai, Specht and Sran were Second Team All-OAC honorees last season, and Swisher was an All-OAC Honorable Mention selection.

An All-OAC Honorable Mention honoree as a freshman, Desai finished last season with an overall record of 29-12, including 15-7 in singles and 14-5 in doubles. He played primarily at No. 4 singles and No. 3 doubles. In three seasons at ONU, he is 40-17 overall, including 22-11 in singles and 18-6 in doubles.

A two-time All-OAC Second Team pick, Specht closed 2022-23 with an overall mark of 27-22, including 15-10 in singles and 12-12 in doubles. He played primarily at No. 2 singles and No. 2 doubles. He is 62-35 in his ONU career, including 35-14 in singles and 27-21 in doubles.

Sran is another two-time All-OAC Second Team honoree and was 17-8 in singles and 12-13 in doubles for an overall mark of 29-21 last season playing primarily at No. 3 singles and exclusively at No. 1 doubles. In his ONU career, Sran is 54-31 overall, including 39-15 in singles and 15-16 in doubles.

Swisher is a two-time All-OAC Honorable Mention selection who finished last season with an overall record of 29-19, including 16-7 in singles and 13-12 in doubles. He played primarily at No. 5 singles and No. 2 doubles. He is 62-28 overall in his ONU career, including 27-11 in singles and 35-17 in doubles.

Sophomore Nico Rogel (Alicante, Spain/Hoosac) will look to build on his impressive freshman campaign in which he posted an overall mark of 29-8, including 20-5 in singles and 9-3 in doubles. He played primarily at No. 6 singles and exclusively at No. 3 doubles.

Senior Isaac Spar (Ada) and sophomores Aaron Davis (Tipp City/Tippecanoe) and T.J. Schultz (Grand Blanc, Mich.) round out the group of returning letter winners for this year's team. They are joined by freshmen Kosuke Asada (Findlay), Kessler Hackenberger (Tipp City/Tippecanoe), Ashton Hesson (Grand Blanc, Mich.) and Tyler Wood (Toledo/St. John's Jesuit).

The Polar Bears open the fall portion of their 2023-24 schedule with matches against Adrian (Mich.) and host Ohio Wesleyan on Sept. 2. Their lone home matches of the fall are against Indiana-East on Sept. 8 and Lourdes on Sept. 9.

Northern will then compete in the Hope (Mich.) Invitational on Sept. 15-16 followed by a match at Cedarville on Sept. 26 before closing out the fall with the three-day ITA Central Regionals in Kalamazoo, Mich., and the Denison Invitational from Sept. 29 to Oct. 1.