Arce set to win his second A-10 tennis Player of the Year, lead Bonnies into A-10 Championship

April 7, 2005

ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. - A trivia question: Can you name the only St. Bonaventure athlete, regardless of sport, to capture two Atlantic 10 Player of the Year awards over his/her career?

The answer: Women's swimmer Anna Belliveau captured back-to-back A-10 Performer of the Year nods in 1998 and 1999.

Very soon, Belliveau will have company.

Senior Mario Arce, co-captain of the men's tennis team, is the favorite to be named the 2005 Atlantic 10 Player of the Year, an award he earned as a sophomore. The winner will be announced April 7, the day before the start of the A-10 Championship at the Oxford Athletic Club near Pittsburgh.

Arce has quietly assembled a brilliant senior season and career. He enters the A-10 Championship with a singles record of 28-6, a school record for wins. Three of his six losses were to players ranked higher than him. Arce has 90 singles wins in his career, also a school record.

His coach, Michael Bates, said that Arce is the best player he has coach in his 10 seasons at St. Bonaventure, and one of the top collegiate players he's seen anywhere.

"He's by far the best player ranking-wise, record-wise, everything," said Bates. "No one has even come close to 28 wins in a season. He's got a chance to hit 30 ... for a college player, that's unheard of almost. It's unfortunate that because he's at a smaller school, he doesn't get as much notoriety as he might at other schools."

Arce is currently ranked eighth in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's Northeast Region in singles, so he has received some notice. But personal accolades are not what drives the South American. While the soft-spoken Arce is confident in his ability, he remains extremely humble and prefers to focus on his teammates. He is driven to help St. Bonaventure reclaim the A-10 Championship, which the Bonnies won in 2003 but lost to Richmond last spring.

"If (Arce) gets the Player of the Year award, that's great, but he really wants to go back to the NCAA's. That's been his goal since day one," Bates said.

"The way I'm playing, I feel like I can compete with any guy in the nation. I am playing my best tennis right now," Arce said. "Right now we're great as a team. I am going to give 100%. It would be nice to win again for all the guys who didn't win before. We're going to the tournament to win it."

Arce was born and raised in Tarija, Bolivia, where his father runs an insurance business and a ranch. There, he learned the game of tennis on clay courts, forming the crafty, shot-making style he relies upon. At 5-foot-10 and about 160 pounds, Arce does not overwhelm opponents with power.

"Sometimes I play opponents with big serves, but I have a good all-around game so I mix up balls and take the other guy out of the game, start attacking," Arce said. "I don't have a big weapon, but I'm able to play from the baseline and go to the net."

"So many kids just know how to hit the ball hard and think that's all you have to do to win a point," Bates analyzed. "He knows how to structure a whole point. He knows where he has to put a shot and he can do it, too."

Fitness and maturity, Arce pointed out, are also chief reasons for his superb senior season.

"I've got a pretty good base and a good technique. But I wasn't really mature enough to play tennis," he admitted. "Every year you get better, you mature and your game gets stronger. I'm happy because I am in the best shape of my life. When you go to A-10's, you have three days of competition, playing probably five hours a day in tough matches. That's how you win, because of how in shape you are -- not because of how good you play tennis."

With the end of his St. Bonaventure career in sight, Arce is also busy planning his future. This summer, he will work as a tennis coach in Connecticut and play top amateur tournaments in the New York City metro area. Then, he will either return to Bolivia and pursue a spot on his country's Davis Cup team or play professionally in the United States.

"Every year, I have been able to improve," he said. "If I keep playing this way, and improving, if things go right maybe I will play professionally."

- Written by Steve Mest, Assistant Athletics Director for Communications