Head Tennis Coach Scott Linn is pleased with the performance of the Mustangs as they dominated the MSU Invitational last weekend.

“The tournament went great and their progress is a great test of physically where they are at,” said Linn.

Linn expressed how confident he was of his players, who make his job worthwhile.

“I’ve been proud that our players battle through stuff,” he said. “It’s quite obvious that we have great people in the program and it’s fun to coach always.”

Linn was especially pleased with Jarrod Liston and Kyle Davidson, who took complete control of the Men’s Doubles when they defeated Collins College’s Brady Nohrnstedt and Donovan McSeveney 8-3 in the finals.

“What a fantastic effort by Davidson and Liston,” he said. “They have played better as the tournament went and have done a fantastic job.”

Surprisingly enough, Davidson and Liston had never teamed up before the MSU Invitational.

“They are willing to work for each other, set each other up all day and are willing to stay positive throughout the entire match even when they miss a shot,” said Linn. “They stayed focused and did a fantastic job of playing maturely and that’s why they won the championship.”

Liston admired the impressive contribution he received from his teammate.

“Kyle is great. For a freshman, he really stood up today,” said Liston. “We started training together Tuesday and for him to step up and play real big tennis in the final was good.”

According to the freshman, his early college achievement helped his confidence.

Davidson was pleased he got to play with Liston and hopes they would partner up in the near future.

“Playing with Jarrod was a really fun experience as we complemented each others game,” he said. “I just hope I’ll have the opportunity to play with him more this year.”

According to Liston, it was a great experience playing with Davidson, who turned out to be the perfect partner to compete with.

“We can communicate well, we both can fade off each other’s energy,” he said. “He keeps me calm and this is a big thing.”

The Liston-Davidson duo strategically brought down the gentlemen from Collins College when they noticed fatigue setting in. “They both had single finals today so you could tell that they were tired,” Liston Said. “We knew we had to get on top of them mentally, which we did and we kept it rolling.”

MSU is looking forward to and preparing for the ITA South Central Regional in Abilene. “We’ll get after the ITA regional,” said Linn. “Strength training in the mornings and a couple practices this week and then we’ll head to Abilene”

After a well-deserved break on Sunday, Liston intends to train all week in preparation for the tournament in Abilene. “I will train through Thursday and see what happens when we get there,” he said. “It’s been a big two days with eight or nine matches each so we’ll have to relax.”

The junior also expects good competition in the regionals at Abilene as Cameron University will also be there. “It will be great to go out there and play new people and just compete,” he said.