JACKSON, Miss. – The Belhaven tennis teams accomplished big things during the 2012 season, but they have their sights set on something way bigger this year.

In a season that is set exactly thirty years from the school's first NAIA National Championship in men's tennis, Coach Levi Patton believes that his teams can approach that landmark once again.

“Last year was one of the best seasons in program history and now we are adding a few top recruits to the depth that we already had coming back. These are teams that will challenge the Belhaven tennis record books.”

The men return all but one of their top six singles players with Gabriel Prado, who played the most matches at No.2 singles, graduating and becoming the graduate assistant of the program.

Nicolas Osorio, a senior from Bogota, Colombia, begins his final campaign as a Blazer after spending last season as the top singles player for the team. Osorio was tasked with taking on some of the best players in the college game, which led to a tough 3-9 record at the first singles spot.

The Blazers also return a young trio of players that were named to the SSAC All-Conference Second Team for their electric performance during the 2012 season. David Mejia, Jefferson Nino and Daniel Prado all made noise as freshman in the Southern States Athletic Conference last year.

Nino was the only Belhaven player to log at least ten singles matches and possess an undefeated record at season's end. He went an amazing 16-0 at the third singles spot before winning a solo match at the second spot in one of the final matches of the season.

The sophomore from Colombia was just as impressive in doubles, where Daniel Duarte and he combined for a 16-3 record. Duarte, another piece of the impressive 2012 recruiting class, went 7-4 at the fourth singles spot. He had an overall record of 12-5 while playing four different spots in singles over the course of the year.

Mejia and Prado had a combined singles record of 26-2, which accounted for a huge part of the Blazers success last year. Another offseason conditioning program has the two sophomores looking to duplicate and even improve upon their high marks.

Mejia, Prado and Nino should all become mainstays in the SSAC postseason awards in the seasons to come.

Nikita Lisov comes to Belhaven after spending the last two seasons at Hinds Community College where he became the top ranked junior college player in the United States. Lisov has the pedigree of a great tennis player and was the top junior player in Russia, while growing up.

Also joining the Blazers as a transfer is Enrico Patriarca who comes over from NCAA DII Mars Hill in North Carolina. Patriarca was known for his doubles play on the DII circuit and was an All-Conference selection at first doubles.

Harry Amor and Andrew Day are the top two freshman coming in for the men's team this season. Amor is the son of India's Davis Cup captain and will bring that professional-style training to an already talented Belhaven squad.

Day was a redshirt freshman for Southern Miss last year and decided to transfer to Belhaven last fall. He was a talented local product in high school, winning three North State titles at singles and doubles for Jackson Academy. His eye popping numbers in high school got him a No.4 ranking in Mississippi and two-star recruit status from a majority of tennis recruiting websites.

On the other side, the women are coming off a 14-7 season that saw them jump in and out of the NAIA polls throughout the year.

The core of Indi Mire, Savannah Zachry, Natalia Krier and Shelley Munn return to give the Blazers some stability in 2013.

Mire, a senior from Thibodaux, Louisiana, comes in as the top returning singles player for Belhaven. She posted a 6-8 record at the No. 2 spot last season, playing behind Ana Arreygue who did not come back for her sophomore season. Mire and Krier played together in doubles competitions most of the season and finished a 7-3 record.

Krier begins her final Belhaven season as one of the team's leaders. She also happens to be one of the most talented singles players on the team. Krier finished the 2012 season with a 12-5 singles record, which was tied for second best on the team with Savannah Zachry.

Zachry, a senior from just down the road in Madison, is also looking forward to putting a cap on a successful Belhaven career. She competed as the No. 3 singles player for the Blazers last season and teamed up with fellow senior Munn to a 10-5 record in doubles.

The top newcomers for Belhaven are Ashley McLendon and Katherine Campbell.

McLendon comes over from the Marion Military Institute where she spent one year as the No. 1 singles player. The sophomore was the 14th ranked female tennis player in Tennessee coming out of high school and also carried a top 125 ranking in the southern states. Campbell was one of the top singles players in Alabama and took home the 6A District championship in 2011.

Both players are expected to do big things in 2013.

“This year we have experience. Our teams know what the national tournament looks like and what they need to do to get there again,” Patton said in an interview.
“We are ready.”

The Blazers get their season underway Friday afternoon as they travel down to New Orleans for a match with Loyola.