Columbus State tennis team wins championship, but it’s more than just a title for their coach

There was no celebratory firing of the tennis ball into sky. No clinched fists and shouts of exultation. No rushing onto the court for a group hug. No team photo with every player and coaching holding up their index finger telling the world that they’re No. 1.

Definitely no group hug. Not even so much as an elbow bump.

The Columbus State men’s tennis team claimed its second national championship in three seasons in a most Covid-19 way.

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When the International Tennis Association released its final poll Thursday, the Cougars were the clear No. 1 team in Division II. The women’s team, with four freshmen starting, were ranked No. 6.

Sure, Cougars coach Evan Isaacs would have preferred winning it on the court, as the men did in 2018.

“It’s different than it’s been done in the past, but it’s still, they consider us national champions,” Isaacs said. “There’s a trophy and there’s going to be a banner put up.”

Besides, it’s not as if the Cougars just backed into the No. 1 ranking. Four of their nine victories came against top 10 opponents, and they won the first ever Division II ITA Indoor National Championship seven weeks in Oklahoma.

That event was a turning point for the team and for Isaacs personally. The field was arguably stronger than the traditional season ending national tournament because they had to beat three top 10 teams and swept every match. That’s when Isaacs knew this team could be special.

But it was also a personal victory of sorts. Last August, three months after losing in the national championship finals to Barry College, Evans and his daughters Jessie and Kendall suffered unthinkable tragedy. Michelle, his wife of 17 years, was killed in a car accident on her way to a tennis tournament in Valdosta.

Some of the moments that followed are still as sharp in his mind as they were when they happened. Like the moment, some 30 minutes after a Georgia State Patrol officer first knocked on his door, when he had to tell the girls that they had lost their mother.

“I don’t know how to explain it, but … I don’t know how I had the presence and strength to do what I did, to tell the girls. For me, there was a presence of God that I had never felt before. It was just … amazing. I never felt that before. For me, I don’t know how people who do not have faith can get through something like that. If they don’t have faith or don’t have belief that their loved one is in a better place, then I don’t know. That’s a tough thing to think about,” he said.

Other moments — most, in fact — just a blur. The accident happened on a Thursday before school was to start the following week. With several new players coming in and even returning players getting settled into their classes, Isaacs had no choice but to keep moving. The Cougars played host to a tournament in September. Then there were two ITA fall tournaments that followed. Then there was recruiting.

All of this while suddenly coping with being a single dad of two teenage girls. The support from the CSU and local tennis communities was overwhelming.

When the Cougars lost in the national finals last year, Isaacs felt the team underachieved a bit. The hunger they had the year before just wasn’t quite there. He said the returning players “went six or seven months with people patting them on the back telling them how good they were.”

“I now understand when coaches say it’s harder to repeat that it is to win the first time,” Isaacs said. “It’s extremely difficult.”

The silver lining was that the players learned. They became even more dedicated to getting back on top. After Michelle’s death, they rallied behind their coach and vowed to dedicate the season to her. And, really, to him. They wrote her name on their jerseys.

That trip to Oklahoma City was an emotional challenge for Isaacs.

“For me, there was a lot of anxiety about leaving to go on the road,” he said. “So that trip to Oklahoma City was tough for me because I was leaving the girls for the first time.”

The Cougars returned home with a national championship. Isaacs returned with a renewed level of comfort. The Cougars followed that up with wins over No. 8 Azusa Pacific and Montevallo before the season was abruptly halted due to Covid-19.

“It was almost like the season was a trial run to make sure that I could do it,” Isaacs said. “So I know now that things are going to work out in the right way. And I think the future is bright — for tennis and the girls and everything.”

One day — hopefully soon — they can have that group hug and team photo with their index fingers telling the world, “We’re No. 1.”