Its best-ever season takes men's tennis team members to nationals No strangers to success, the Bison tennis team completed the 1995 spring season with one of the strongest records in Harding's history. Coach David Elliott, who has been coaching winning teams at Harding for 20 years, said the season's 21-4 record was the best ever. Statewide, the Bisons ranked second, with an 8-2 conference record in the Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference (AIC), beaten only by Ouachita Baptist University, whose conference score was 9-0. But Harding still kept their spirits up with a higher season record, surpassing Ouachita's 16-6 overall performance. Spirits continued to soar when four Bison tennis players were named to the All-AIC AllStar Team. Leoncio Dominguez ranked third; Ruben Gonzalez ranked fourth; Guillermo Hernandez ranked sixth; and Arturo Rodriguez ranked 11th place. Although proud of the men 's success, the highlight of the season for Elliott was the Bisons' ranking in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The Bisons ranked 11th, beat only by one other Arkansas university, Ouachita Baptist, who ranked seventh. All of the hard work and practice paid off this season, according to Elliott, because the Bisons ' placement was up one from the previous year's ranking. The Bisons not only proved themselves as a team, but individual members stood out nationally at the tournament in Tulsa, Okla. Three Bisons won a mimimum of three rounds of tournament play and earned positions on the NAIA All-America Tennis Team. Impressed by the performance of Gonzalez, the Bison's number two player who won his first three rounds, Elliott said, "Ruben is a very deserving senior because he competes very hard." The freshman doubles team, Rodriguez and Hernandez, also won their first three matches. All three earned All-America honors. "I am happy for all our players," Elliott said. "It is a tribute to how hard the kids play and how far the program has come in recent years. " Rodriguez also received individual honors, being the only individual to receive a national ranking. He ranked 43rd in the NAIA men's singles rankings. He attained this success while only a freshman, getting his college tennis career off to a great start. Together, he and Hernandez also received honors for their skill and teamwork in doubles action, ranking them eleventh in NAIAmen 's doubles rankings. "The hard work and effort these kids put in really paid off. I am proud of them all ," Elliott said. The Bisons performed well in the classroom, too. Two of the team 's players, Dominguez and Daniel Velasco, were chosen Academic All-America ScholarAthletes, which requires that the athlete be a junior with at least a 3.5 grade point average. With successful performances in both district and nationals play, the Bisons added another winning season to the already long list of athletic accomplishments at Harding. - Christie Rogers Going low for a return, Ruben Conzalez uses his backhand to get the ball over the net. Conzalez was one of four Bisons to make the All-AIC tennis team. Photo by Jason Burt. Men 's Tennis ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~----=-~~~ 2ss Sports
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