Courtesy photo from Matthew Cavazos
As the season is coming to an end, the men’s tennis team is currently preparing for their final matches of the season working up to qualify into the Southland Conference Tournament.
The men’s tennis team has seen mixed results this season, picking up a win over Texas A&M- Corpus Christi while falling in a close match to Lamar and struggling against Incarnate Word.
Head coach Nathan Robinson said the team has been in winning positions, but finishing has been a challenge.
“Not what we expected, basically, a little below bar. We’ve had some really good wins and competed well, but haven’t crossed that finish line as much as we’d like to,” Robinson said.
As the season progressed, players say previous matches have helped the team better understand what is needed to compete for the Southland Conference Tournament.
Graduate student and team captain Sam Whitehead said that change has been noticeable.
“I think our mentality has improved compared to where we were at the start of the semester, to now I think we have improved mentally and we’ve still got work to do but I think that’s improved a lot,” Whitehead said.
Sophomore Loic Young Kriegel said the team is staying confident as it heads into its final matches.
“We had really good matches with Corpus at first. After we lost to Lamar really tight and we didn’t play that good against Incarnate Word. But I think if we make the conference tournament, we can do really good,” Young said.
With only a few matches remaining, Head coach Nathan Robinson said the team’s success in the finale matches will come down to confidence.
“It’s really going to come down to belief. It’s not about who’s the better tennis player, who’s not. It’s going to be coming down to who believes in their game style the most and cannot be shaken from that mindset,” Robinson said.
The tennis team now looks to finish the season strong as they prepare for the Southland Conference Tournament, set for April 20 to 21.
This is Carmen Gonzalez for Vaquero Radio.
