It seemed like just another Thursday. The Georgia State men's tennis team was loaded into the vans and headed to the GSU Clarkston Courts for an afternoon practice before a slate of six consecutive home matches in the coming weeks.

As the vans rolled out of the parking lot and onto the highway, the team quickly caught wind of the growing concerns around COVID-19 and saw the dominos begin to fall. Conferences around the country were beginning to indefinitely suspend or cancel all spring sports.

"By that point it was pretty obvious we would be next," senior Bailey Showers said.

Still, the team arrived at Clarkston, unloaded the equipment from the vans and began practice as if it were any other Thursday. But it wasn't like any other Thursday, and head coach Jon Wolff knew it as practice wore on.

"It was psychologically tough," Wolff said. "The intensity was good, but I could tell there was a lot of anxiety in the guys. There were a lot of questions we didn't have the answers to – it was kind of a distraction – but we were still trying to conduct practice as best we could."

The practice eventually ended and the news eventually broke – the Sun Belt announced all spring sports were indefinitely suspended, then a few days later cancelled all athletics activities for the remainder of the academic year.

That meant Showers and fellow senior Quentin Coulaud had played their last match for the Panthers without even knowing it.

"It was a huge disappointment," Coulaud said. "Ending four years of college like this is sad."

On a positive note, the two seniors won their final match together as doubles partners with a 7-5 win over Charlotte's Leonardo Menezes and Constandinos Christoforou on March 8, ending the season on a five-match win streak.

"That was one of the first things I thought about after the cancellation," Showers said, reflecting on the abrupt end to the season. "It was pretty sad to think about, realizing that I'd gone to battle with my brothers for the last time. This team and these guys are my family, so it was definitely an emotional and sad moment. It came out of nowhere too, with every cancellation happening soon after that match. It wouldn't have seemed possible going into that match that it would be my last."

It was a serve with no return. A season with no proper ending. No senior day. No conference tournament.

"I feel for them because they've given so much to our program over the years, on and off the court," Wolff said. "My heart goes straight to the seniors on the team and all the hard work they've put in through the season. I feel like we were beginning to turn a corner after working through some obstacles early in the year."

All that is left of the season is to wonder what could have been. The Panthers had won four of their last six and were gearing up for a long homestand and the beginning of conference play. And after falling in the championship of last year's Sun Belt Tournament, Coulaud and Showers would love nothing more than another shot at the title.

"I think we would've been one of the favorites to win the title," Coulaud said. "I can't guarantee we were going to win it, but I know we would have done everything in our power to try."