The men’s tennis team beat Cameron University 6-3, the team’s Lone Star Conference rival, on April 20. With this Top 25 win, they were able to maintain their playoff chances.
Dillon Pineda, biology freshman, said, “It felt great to win this. There had been struggles beating them in the past, so being able to win felt awesome.”
The team won their doubles matches 2-1. It got down to the last match in doubles when Kyle Davidson and Ramon Toyos lost their match 9-8, and Dillon Pineda and Zack Santagate won 8-5, but it turned out all right for them when Chris Norrie and Benjamin Neander won 9-8.
Zack Santagate, marketing senior, said, “It was probably the best doubles match ever. I was confident in myself, and I knew if there was something wrong with my game, I could count on Pineda. He’s a great teammate.”
The team also won in singles matches 4-2. It was tight during singles for a while since Dylan Hall and Chris Norrie lost their matches, but it was turned out as a win when Kyle Davidson clinched the game in a three-game match (2-6, 6-2, and 6-1).
Pineda said, “It was nice when I got my win, but it was awesome hearing Kyle clinch the match. He’s such a great player, and I’m glad we have him.”
Head coach Scott Linn also had good things to say about Davidson.
“That’s as well as I’ve ever seen Kyle play. When his opponent was playing well, he raised the bar higher. If someone else who wasn’t as strong as he is had been playing that match, it would’ve been a lost match,” Linn said.
He also said he liked how Pineda played when he started to face adversity during the match.
“When things got tough, he didn’t flinch. Opponents thrive on seeing us struggle, but if they don’t see it, there’s nowhere for them to go, and Dillon never showed that struggle,” Linn said.
The win did not come without struggles. The main one, staying alert throughout the four-and-a-half hour match.
Pineda said, “It was really tough keeping my energy up. After a doubles match and during a singles match, that can get tough, but we did it, and we got the win.”
Santagate also said he had some difficulty at times.
“I didn’t see many problems, but i will say it’s hard playing 100 percent in the games when you’re tired and when it’s hot, but it’s all right. It’s fun, and we still won, so it wasn’t too much of a problem,” Santagate said.
With this win, the team still has a good chance of reaching the playoffs.
“We have done well this season, and we have lots of potential. This is a tightly knit group, which is a good strength to have going if you’re going to make a playoff run,” Santagate said.
Santagate said even though playoffs are on their mind, they can’t think about it too much. They just have to take it day-by-day, and keep working hard as a group.
