Team set for spring season after a successful fall
The tennis programs’ spring season is getting into full swing. The men’s team played their first match against Collin College Feb. 9 and walked away with 7-2 win.
“It was a good result,” head coach Scott Linn said. “We started three freshmen in that match in singles and doubles, and they were a part of five wins for us. So, considering that and considering Collin College is usually one of the top junior college teams in the country each year, it was a good win.”
The team prepared for team play this spring by competing in five individual tournaments last fall, as well as holding team practices since Jan. 11.
“(Team practices) consist of tactical development, singles and doubles drills and performance development,” Linn said. “This means we’re consistently trying to get players to a higher level, and the players that put all of that together the best usually get to be the starters.”
This season’s team is relatively young, consisting of nine underclassmen out of the 12-player roster for the men, while the women have eight underclassmen out of their 11 players.
“We have a young team, but as they mature, we’ll continue to play better and better,” Linn said. “I think we’ll get better each match. Collin College will not be our best match by any stretch on the men’s side. From there, it comes down to how far they want to go. They’re not limited, and I think we’ll have the ability to win championships this year if we continue to progress.”
On the men’s side, seniors Luke Joyce and Colby Meeks will fulfill the leadership role for the team, along with the other four returning players.
According to Linn, Luke had a very successful fall season in preparation for the spring.
“Luke won the Collin County tournament and beat one of TCU’s starters in the final in the fall,” Linn said. “That TCU player also beat someone who played for Stanford, and they usually have one of the top 10 programs in the nation each year. (Luke) also beat one of SMU’s starters in that tournament, as well. He had a great tournament and a really good fall. He’s ranked 39 in the country right now, and he also had a good result at Tyler Junior College’s tournament. I anticipate he’ll have a very good spring for us.”
On the women’s side, four players are returners with only three of them starting last fall.
“We lost our number one and two players to graduation at the end of last season, so people have to step up,” Linn said. “You prefer that to be returners, but we also have a good freshmen class.”
Linn said that the women’s team did extremely well last fall, winning 15 individual championships, but they’ll still need the returning players’ leadership to succeed this spring.
“Kendra Casey and Sarita Adhikary are our two seniors and they’ll need to show leadership on and off the court,” Linn said. “Taylor Coffman is a sophomore and she’s done a great job of being ready this spring. She played every match for us last year, so she’ll be another major contributor to our success.”
The women’s first match will be against St. Mary’s on Saturday, but they’ve already received some experience for this season when they scrimmaged Collin College’s women’s team during the men’s match.
“They did very well,” Linn said. “They got some games in against other opponents, which is good. They’ve been practicing all week on doubles play and building their singles game for Saturday.”
The teams will play 20 games this season in preparation for the Lone Star Conference tournament in April.
“We just take it one match at a time,” Linn said. “I don’t think it benefits anybody to look ahead any further than the next match. It’s going to be an enjoyable season, though, and it should be a lot of fun.”