Macon Magazine

Smashing the competition seems easy at Middle Georgia State University (MGA). The women's tennis team is in a dominant season, ranked in the top five nationally in the NAIA. At press time, the Knights were on a six-game winning streak. According to coach Tom Bates, an 11-year veteran hired to start the program, the secret is, "Build the team with good people. That's my first rule. You have good people as players first, and secondly, make sure they are good students. Then you have the right buy-in." Most Central Georgians may not know students are coming to Macon from all over the world to play at MGA. With women's athletics alone, there are players from the UK, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Taiwan. Why join this university on the rise? "We wanted to be able to study and play tennis at the same time. In Spain, it's tough to do both, and I really love tennis. We chose to be here," explained Aya El Marrasse, a junior from Barcelona. El Marasse M I D D L E G E O R G I A S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y is studying aviation, a unique specialty at MGA, and pointed out how rare it was to pursue that field and be a competitive athlete. Sophomore Sandra Recuenco came from Valencia. Since arriving, Recuenco and El Marasse have enjoyed the Coca-Cola Museum in Atlanta, the swimming pool and wellness center on campus, or gathering the team to grab a boba tea downtown. Most of all, they've loved winning, from finishing a season in the top 10 to securing their conference championship. "Actually, we were not expecting this," Recuenco admitted about her experience. Stellar recruits like these, and the rapid growth of the university as a whole, are why MGA plans to step it up in 2025 and apply for membership in the NCAA Division II, hopefully joining the Peach Belt conference in the 2025-2026 academic year. Recuenco is confident for the future: "We are excited for what is coming." A TENNIS PROGRAM THAT'S A PERFECT MATCH Aya El Marrasse practices on the royal purple Knights tennis court.

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