Global business sophomore Vivian Sepulveda (above) and her partner JoLynn Scriven won 8-0 in a doubles match against Sul Ross State on April 12. Photo by Soujanya Bhat | Mercury Staff.
The
men’s and women’s tennis teams each have one more match left to play in the
American Southwest Conference West competition before advancing to ASC
regionals.
“We have
the exact same team as last year plus two more freshmen, so we’re a bit
stronger than last year,” said UTD tennis coach Bryan Whitt, who coaches both
the men’s and women’s teams.
Next
year, both teams will be moving to the East division from the West division.
“The
transition won’t be that much since we play the East teams (during the season
and conference tournament) anyway, and we used to be in the East,” Whitt said.
The
men’s tennis team lost 5-4 in a match in the West competition against Concordia
University on March 29.
“We believe we can beat them again, so we look forward to
playing them again,” said junior Giovanni Zamboni. “I believe that we didn’t
prepare in the best way possible (before), such as not enough hydration.”
Zamboni
is undefeated in his singles matches this season while he lost four out of 10
of his doubles matches. He is ranked No. 2 on the team.
“We also
have a lot of freshmen this year, and they are good players (and), the pressure
can get to them, but that helped our experience,” Zamboni said.
The
freshmen have also helped his game this season, he said.
“The big thing this year
(is) I really stepped up as a kind of leader because the team is kind of young
this year,” Zamboni said. “Now, I’m more relaxed, so it helped to be more
confident and play better because tennis is how you feel mentally and how it
affects your physical game.”
The
women’s team lost one match 7-2 during its regular season against Trinity
University, a nationally ranked team, on April 6.
“I think
they were the toughest team compared to anyone else we’ve played till that
point, so we weren’t quite ready for what they brought,” said junior Kathy
Joseph.
Joseph
is undefeated this season and the only nationally ranked tennis player on the
team, ranked No. 5 in the NCAA Division III West Region.
“(The competition) has made me more excited about the
potential for going to nationals,” she said. “It gives me something more to
look forward to.”