With its victory over Denver on Sunday, the Troy Trojans tennis team accomplished a feat it had never done before in the Sun Belt – win the conference championship.

This past weekend at the conference tournament in New Orleans the Trojans were the last team standing and return to Troy with the first Sun Belt tennis title and an automatic bid to the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

“We definitely turned the corner by winning the conference,” head coach Eric Hayes said Monday afternoon.

“We did it by defeating Denver, a Top 50 team and a team that had already beaten us once this season.

“We should be a Top 50 team when the new rankings come out,” Hayes added. “We are definitely headed in the right direction.”

The win improves Troy, who came into the tournament with ranked 61st, to 20-4 on the season

“A lot of people questioned whether or not winning (the conference championship) could happen (at Troy).

“When I first got here, I wanted the team to be nationally competitive and to be a Top 25 program, which we are close to now

“This win proved a lot of people wrong,” Hayes added.

This was the first conference championship since 2003, when the women’s tennis team won the Atlantic Sun tournament.

Now, Hayes and the Trojans direct their attention to the upcoming NCAA tournament, which takes place in a little more than two weeks.

The tournament is just like any other NCAA tournament, 64 teams are selected with the selections coming out a week from today.

Hayes said even with Sunday’s win, the team is focused on winning more.

“All the guys were happy – but they are ready to get back to work and focus on the tournament.”