As a way to pay homage to cancer awareness and research, the men’s tennis team has decided to take part in No-Shave November and will host a clinic for a donation drive on Thursday. The team has found success in this fall season with their individual tournaments as multiple players have reached the finals of their flights play. This donation drive will be an opportunity for people to not only donate to a tremendous cause, but also to meet the team before their championship season begins in January.

“We decided to do it because it was a fun way to raise awareness and raise money for a great cause,” said junior Christian Kerrigan. “We also wanted to see what some of our teammates would look like if they actually grew out their facial hair a bit. Everyone always hears about it, but it’s nice to have something fun to do that can actually help it. It does mean a lot.”

“My grandfather died from cancer,” said redshirt-junior Daniel Casablancas. “I thought it was good when we decided to do this: raise funding. It’s personal to me. It helps everyone out with cancer.”

“My grandfather was diagnosed with prostate cancer, as well,” said sophomore Eddie Landin. “But nothing really bad happened to him. They treated it on time and everything. It’s nice that we are raising funds for cancer research so, hopefully, one day, they can come up with a cure.”

“My grandfather had a skin cancer,” said senior Rice Lanne. “Then this year, my grandmom’s sister–I’m really, really close to her–she had breast cancer. It’s a little different, but it touches every one of us. I’ve been following the European version of this is in November to grow a mustache. I’ve been following that, being like, “Yeah, I want to participate.” Alone, I can’t do much. But as a team, we can do a lot more.”

Kerrigan hails from England and Casablancas is from Spain. Landin is from Mexico and Lanne is from Finland. The team is filled with international players who have all found themselves playing for Southern on the men’s tennis team. They have taken this month to dedicate their time and effort to cancer awareness and research. It touches each player in a special way and is something the team is proud to help with.

On Thursday, Nov. 19, the team will take part in a clinic that will allow anyone to donate money for the cancer awareness and research cause. Kids will be able to donate from 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. while adults will be able to donate from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. People will get an opportunity to not only donate through cash, check or other means, but they will also get to meet the team, pick up a schedule for the spring season and see how the team is doing before the next part of the tennis year begins.

“It’ll be a good way to meet some of us, to play a bit of tennis; have some fun with that,” said Kerrigan. “For us, it’ll be nice to get people interested in tennis and to make them realize where we are and what we do. A lot of people on campus don’t know that. As long as it remains for a good cause, it’ll be fun for everyone as well.”

The team recently finished their fall portion of the season by competing in the College of Charleston Invite last weekend. The team will take back to the courts in January as they compete against Davidson and Gardner-Webb on the weekend of Saturday, Jan. 16.