Kyle Parkhurst
Sports Reporter

Photo by Kyle Parkhurst

Jordan Lyden is not the most recognized name on campus. However, by the time the 20-year-old junior from St. George, Utah, finishes his CMU tennis career, he will be.

Lyden began playing tennis around the age of six.

“It was one of those things where the neighbor kids would always invite me to play,” Lyden said. “It was always fun, and we would play like once a week, but I never thought much of it.”

At age 11, Lyden started playing tennis competitively in a tennis “junior” league. Lyden wasn’t recruited to come to CMU to play tennis.

“I actually kind of just stumbled across (CMU) when I was playing in a junior tournament in Denver,” Lyden said. “I drove through Grand Junction, met with the coach, and the rest is history.”

The rest certainly has been history for Lyden at CMU. Last week, Lyden and the tennis team were entered in the 2013 USTA/ITA South Central Regional Tournament. Lyden advanced to the championship round and defeated Kyle Davidson (7-5, 4-7, 7-2) to win the title.

He is the first Maverick to win a singles regional championship. When asked if this was part of his goals entering this season, Lyden could only laugh.

“To be honest, it wasn’t in my goals, mainly because I didn’t even know we were going until about a week before,” Lyden said. “It was definitely the biggest win of my life and a huge milestone in my career for tennis.”

The win has already solidified Lyden as the most prolific tennis player in CMU history, and his coach, Dan MacDonald, couldn’t speak more highly of his star player.

“He is one of the easiest players I have ever had to coach,” MacDonald said. “Jordan is the type of kid where when he came here as a freshman, he knew how hard he was going to have to work and really busted his tail off in the summer and has played tremendously.”

Not only has Lyden been a standout on the courts, but he also has excelled in the classroom. He is averaging a 3.5 GPA and intends to graduate this spring and then pursue a Master’s degree in marketing while still playing for the team.

“He is one of those kids who is so self-motivated, which makes him such an awesome kid to coach,” MacDonald said. “He is probably the most talented kid I have ever coached, and I believe that when he finishes his career here, he will be considered the best to have ever played for the Mavericks.”

The win for Lyden in the Regional Tournament automatically qualifies him for the National Tournament in Fort Meyers, Fla., Oct. 9-12. Lyden is the first player in CMU history to qualify for the National Tournament.

“I think I’m most excited to go because I was actually born in Florida, so I still have a ton of family out there,” Lyden said. “I’m really excited that they’ll be able to come out and watch me play my hardest.”

Lyden will be competing against the top players in the nation, but he feels that he has an advantage in a few of the technical aspects of the game.

“I feel like my best component is being able to transition well from defense to offense and vice versa,” Lyden said. “One of my favorite things to do is to hit a return and rush up to the net to close it off with a volley. That is definitely my game.”

Lyden’s aggressive style of play was modeled after all-time tennis great Pete Sampras.

“I have always loved his aggressiveness in matches,” Lyden said.

Lyden may not be the “big man on campus” yet, but when it is all said and done, he will be in terms of the history of athletics at Colorado Mesa University.

ksparkhu@mavs.coloradomesa.edu