Pam BuzzettaAs the semester winds down for the majority of students on campus, regular season schedules are coming to a close. However, the focus of the Washington University men’s tennis team’s season schedule is just beginning. This weekend they will attempt to not only extend their current six-match winning streak, but more importantly compete for the University Athletic Association Conference title when they host the tournament in St. Louis. Matches will be played at the Tao Tennis Center on the WU campus as well as the Dwight Davis Courts in Forrest Park. Emory University sits atop the conference ranking at No. 1 while WU is on the opposite side of the draw after securing the No. 2 seed. Rochester and Brandeis round out the top four seeds of the eight-team tournament.
The Bears (10-4) would love the opportunity to face Emory in the finals and avenge an earlier 5-2 loss in Atlanta on Feb. 28.
“I think our goal is for everybody to compete as hard and as smart as they can to give us the best chance to take home our first conference title,” said senior David Genovese. “That’s all we can do, if we do that and they still beat us, then they deserve to win.”
Senior co-captain Michael Thompson added, “We need to go out and fight hard against Emory, and make them realize that they can’t just walk in and beat us anymore. They will have to fight and earn the win.”
The Bears are hoping that their current winning momentum will carry them through the weekend in preparation for the national tournament that will begin in May. WU’s last loss, an extremely close 4-3 match, was recorded on Apr. 1, when they nearly knocked off the defending national champion Williams College. Since then, the rest of April has been full of success for the men’s team, and all of it taking place on their home courts.
On Apr. 4, WU recorded a decisive 6-1 victory over the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and a 5-2 win over Wittenberg University the following day. Then a week later, on Apr. 12, the Bears hosted fellow UAA member New York University and sent them home with a loss, a 7-0 sweep. On Apr. 17, they recorded an exhibition win over Vincennes University. Then, to finish out the regular season and establish three consecutive match sweeps, the Bears took on Principia College this past Monday, Apr. 21, a 7-0 win, followed by McKendree College on Tuesday in a 9-0 effort.
“We’ve played some teams lately that don’t have enough depth to really compete with us,” Genovese said. “For the most part we have been using the past couple of weeks to prepare for conference, which in turn will get us ready for nationals.”
Freshman Ari Rosenthal noted his theory on the team’s recent success when he said, “Things have been going very well the past few weeks. The atmosphere at practice has been very positive, and I think that the positive attitude has helped us perform better in our matches. Most of the guys have been gaining confidence as the season has pressed on, and I think that has helped us with our wins.”
One of those players in particular is freshman Neil Kenner, who in recent weeks has swapped roster positions with junior Brian Alvo. Kenner has dropped only one set in his last five matches while playing at the No. 1 position, to extend his singles season record to 15-2. Alvo in turn has had tremendous success at No. 2 as well.
Genovese commented on the contribution of this year’s freshmen when he said, “Our freshmen class is obviously very talented, and I think they will continue to improve. What’s so great about them is their work ethic and the enthusiasm they show for tennis. They make us all want to work harder. They make me want to be a freshman again.”
Rosenthal shared his thoughts on this weekend’s conference tournament when he said, “I think that individuals on the team have progressed at various times, but we haven’t been able to all play our ‘A’ game at the same time. Hopefully we can this weekend. We need to enjoy ourselves more. I think sometimes we can get caught up in the bigness of the competition and forget how to have fun out there.”
Hopefully Coach Roger Follmer will continue to guide his players to excellence as he has done all season. and secure WU’s first conference title in route to an even bigger title at the end of nationals.