Tech tennis renews rivalry with Belmont in Doyle’s final match as Golden Eagle head coach
Saturday’s end to the 2025 Tennessee Tech tennis season will also bring the bittersweet conclusion to one of the most successful and impactful eras of Golden Eagle tennis.
By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Saturday's end to the 2025 Tennessee Tech tennis season will also bring the bittersweet conclusion to one of the most successful and impactful eras of Golden Eagle tennis.
When the purple and gold play host to Belmont from Tech Tennis Courts at 2 p.m. CT, the program will bid farewell to its longest-tenured and second-winningest head coach in program history, Kenny Doyle. The six-time OVC Coach of the Year, who helped author five NCAA Tournament appearances, five OVC Tournament titles and seven conference regular-season championships is set to retire at season's end.
Saturday's match will also be the final in the TTU careers of seniors Darek Kuczynski and Lukas Krause.
Admission to the finale is free of charge.
A retirement reception, celebrating Coach Doyle's 16-year Tennessee Tech career is also on the books for Tuesday, Apr. 29 at 3 p.m. in the Eagles Nest of the Hooper Eblen Center. The event is open to the public.
A look at Tennessee Tech
Despite a win in their last match at Eastern Illinois on Apr. 12, the Golden Eagles (2-11, 1-2 HL) will narrowly miss out on the Horizon League Tournament regardless of Saturday's outcome with Belmont.
Tech's 4-0 triumph over the Panthers saw the purple and gold capture the doubles point to go along with singles victories out of Oliver Dao, Darek Kuczynski and Ricard Garavi Yepez. Kuczynski's solo nod was his team-leading fifth of the year.
As far as doubles play is concerned, Alex Alvarez and Murilo Burckhardt have formed TTU's top tandem behind a 5-4 record. The pair claimed a win at EIU in Saturday's match in Charleston.
Doyle's 156 career victories rank him second on the program's all-time wins list, while his 86 conference nods are tops among the Tech coaching ranks. As he gets set to wrap up his 16th year guiding the Golden Eagles, Doyle owns an eye-popping .789 conference winning percentage thanks to an impressive 86-23 career league ledger.
Under Doyle's direction, Tech punched its ticket to five NCAA Tournaments, which included four straight appearances from 2016-19 to become the first OVC school since MTSU in the 90s to claim a four-peat. The Golden Eagles also secured a bid in the 2022 NCAA Tournament after topping Belmont to win the OVC Tournament.
A look at Belmont
Fittingly the finale is against Belmont after the two schools went at it time and time again when the lights were brightest and the stage was grandest. The Golden Eagles and Bruins met in five of the last six conference tournament championship matches, with Tech winning in 2022, 2019, and 2018, and Belmont besting the purple and gold in 2023 and 2021.
This year's Bruins (10-10, 3-0 HL) have already clinched the Horizon League's South Division behind an unblemished conference record. Belmont downed both Southern Indiana and Eastern Illinois behind identical 7-0 decisions to go along with a narrow 4-3 victory at TSU in the club's last contest on Apr. 5.
Sabi Roi leads the club with 11 singles wins, while Charlie Robin and Esunge Ndumbe each have 10 solo nods this season. Ndumbe has most frequented the No. 1 position for the Bruins and has an 8-6 record from the top slot. Diego Castro and Eli Mizerski have formed the team's most formidable doubles duo behind a 10-4 tandem record.
Inside the series
Tech still leads the all-time series 19-17, despite having dropped five straight to Belmont since topping the Bruins in the 2022 OVC Tournament championship match. Belmont secured last year's regular-season meeting thanks to a 4-3 win in Nashville before knocking Tech out of the Horizon League Tournament semifinals with a 4-0 victory.
Photos by Thomas Corhern
