Mercer Hires New Tennis Coach, Hayes Leaves Troy After 11 Years
MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Mercer University introduced its new head tennis coach Thursday.
Eric Hayes, who’s been the head coach of the men’s and women’s tennis teams at Troy University in Alabama, will assume the same duties at Mercer.
In Hayes’ 11-year stint at Troy, he led the men’s team to 61 wins and earned a bid to the Sun Belt Conference Tournament every year.
On the women’s side, he went 100-68 at Troy, including a 17-6 record last season.
He expects some of Mercer’s academic programs to give him an advantage over other schools in recruiting.
“I’m very much looking forward to recruiting this university,” says Hayes, who also has been head coach at North Carolina State, South Florida and Kansas. “It has majors like engineering, the medical school and the law school, and I’ve missed out on players that have been interested in stuff like that.”
Hayes serves as tournament director for the U.S. Tennis Association’s annual $50,000 women’s challenge. He says he plans to move the week-long tournament, which features several Top 100 professional players, to Macon this fall.
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