Sports

Tennis travels to Oklahoma for match

Loading

The Golden Eagles men’s and women’s tennis teams will play Southwestern Christian in Bethany, Okla. today at 2 p.m. The tennis team will compete to prove its strength and competency.

“We are building a new program, so I want to prove that we are a good team and that we will put up a good fight,” Fernando Hurley, sophomore, said. “I don’t want other schools [to think] that we are just an easy win to them.”

Nathan Kuykendall, freshman, said he wants to pull out a win and plans on giving his best effort at this tournament.

“For this match I’m hoping we will fight hard and give them a run for their money,” Kuykendall said. “I plan on doing well in this match by staying consistent, playing smart and capitalizing on my opponents’ weaknesses.”

For Krizana Saucedo, senior, this match is important and holds more significance because this is her last season playing tennis for the University. It will be a single match, which means the team will play three doubles matches and six single matches, both for the women and men. This setup can change, however—Saucedo mentioned that the amount of doubles rounds and singles rounds may differ depending on how many players Southwestern has competing that day.

Players were responsible for practicing independently over spring break.

“Since we had spring break we essentially had to take the opportunity to practice on our own,” Saucedo said. “We will have good amounts of play practice and time to simply work on small details we need to improve on.”

The tennis team has been practicing and working hard to improve throughout the season.

“My doubles partner and I have been working on some new doubles formations,” Kuykendall said. “I’m looking forward to trying these new strategies and hopefully pulling out a win.”

Other players on the two teams have been working on their game as well. Hurley mentioned that he has been practicing on his own time.

“I have been hitting the practice courts as hard as I can, giving it all my effort,” Hurley said. “I have also been preparing myself to be mentally strong, which is a huge deal in tennis.”

Saucedo is looking forward to enjoying her last season of tennis and plans to play hard and enjoy time with her team.

“Our overall goal is just to go out to play at our best capacity and encourage each other as a team,” she said. “The best goal we would like to accomplish is to win this match and continue to improve our record.”

The Golden Eagles’ overall record is 2-6 for both teams, according to JBU Athletics.

Comments are closed.