The Importance of Conference

This year, our team is in a rough spot. Since we play a weak schedule, it can be said that we cannot compete with the other top teams in the country. We have two decent wins (tyler and mary washington) but these wins do not justify us a solid high ranking like we would like. This makes the idea of an "at large bid" to the national tournament in California very unlikely; therefore, we must win our conference to qualify. There are few teams that can consistently challenge us in our conference, and Depauw is one of them. Last year, our team lost to them in the finals of conference, but was able to land a bid into nationals. Our goal this year is to win conference and leave no doubt that we belong with the other top programs in the country.

Match Previews: Incarnate Word/ St. Marys

This weekend, we have the last two matches in our regular season. On Friday, we go over to Incarnate Word to play their team for the second time this season. They beat us 6-3 earlier this season, but I feel like our team has gotten much stronger since then. Hopefully we will have a better result with them this time around.

Then on Saturday, we play St. Mary's University at 10:00 AM. We are expected to come out on top for this match, which hopefully we will be able to follow through with. It would be great to head to conference in Little Rock Arkansas next weekend on a win.

Match Review: Hardin-Simmons

We left on Thursday for the social-mecca that is Abilene Texas to face Hardin-Simmons University. Apparently this team absolutely hates Trinity and as of recent tried to make our matches ones of "rivalry"? Anyways, we beat them by a score of 8-1. I'll let other people decide if that could ever be considered a "rivalry". We lost our #4 singles match in a close three setter, but that was the only match we lost. We travelled with the girls team this weekend (which was fun) and they won as well. So, all around, a pretty fun trip. There was some debate about whether Chicken Express was superior than Chick Filet, so we ultimately ended up splitting up and satisfying everyone. Either way, it was lots of fun. Also, I'm glad I will not have to go back to Abilene any time soon. It's not that I don't like it there and there is nothing to do... wait, no that's pretty much right. Sorry.

Match Review: UT Tyler

For our biggest home match of the year, we hosted UT Tyler on Saturday, April  4th. This match received a legitimate amount of hype across the country because it involved two top-fifteen ranked teams facing off somewhat late in the season. Prior to the match, we were predicted to win by a close score of 5-4. Everyone on the team considered this match to be the most important match of the regular season, and the build-up caused us to have a huge fan turnout. It was by far the most people I have ever played in front of, and thanks to the fans and the increased focus of the team, we were able to win 8-1 (I lost my singles match in three sets). Everyone was extremely happy about the match, and as a result, we are back at 12 in the country. This match definitely proved that we are a force nationally and not only in our section/ region. I want to thank everyone who came out and supported us that Saturday. It really meant a lot!

Following Spring Break

The weeks following Spring Break were rather uneventful. We played some dual matches against smaller teams such as Mary Hardin Baylor and Southwestern, but we were able to make them rather routine wins. Nationally, we are under severe scrutiny for having an easy schedule. It's true that we do not play as many highly ranked teams as others, but mainly because our California Spring Break trip got called off for various reasons. Us players were very anxious to get out on the national scene and play tougher competition, but that ended up falling apart. So now, we have to settle for making our way through a group of smaller teams until conference.

The most important in-season match that we had was against a tough UT-Tyler team. We hosted them on April 4th and were able to win the match rather easily by a score of 8-1. This came as a surprise to most people, seeing as how Tyler was at the time ranked ahead of us. But by defeating them by a large margin, we have proved once again that we belong on the national scene.

Spring Season Recap

The team started out with a trip to Abilene Texas to face Prairie View A&M (TU won 8-1) then faced a tough Abilene Christian team, losing to them 7-2. Even though we played a tough team, we felt as if the trip was definitely a step in the right direction. It's definitely fun to travel with these group of guys. They make everything much more entertaining. After hosting a few more home matches, we took off to St. Peter Minnesota for Indoor Winter Nationals hosted by Gustavus Adolphus College. We lost to the National Champion team Wash U first round, then suffered another loss to a very strong UC Santa Cruz team. After that, we rallied to beat Mary Washington for 7th place. It was good that we ended the tournament on a positive note. Lots of people and teams did not expect us to perform well, so it was good to get that last win. Our match with Mary Washington ended after midnight, so we made a well-deserved Perkins run for some late-night food. After nearly dying in a near-by ditch due to our assistant coach's flashy driving skills, we safely made it back to the hotel and were able to make a stop by the Mall of America the next day so that Bobby would get the chance to wimp out on roller coasters because he is a girl. We obviously had lots of fun, and oh yeah, played some decent tennis too.

First Post

Just an attempt at updating those interested on Trinity University's Men's Tennis team. I am going to upload some photos soon and write a recap of a few of our trips in the past. I'll try to stay as current as I can. Hope you enjoy.