The men’s tennis team will travel to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to compete in the Saint Francis Health System ITA Men’s All-American Championships. The tournament will showcase talent from schools all across the country including several nationally ranked programs such as, UCLA, TCU, North Carolina, Wake Forest and Florida.
With a strong mix of newcomers and veterans on the men’s side, head coach Hutton Jones said that creating lineups and making decisions from a coaching perspective is difficult, but means great things for the team’s abilities and flexibility.
“We have a lot of depth,” Jones said, “we’ll keep evaluating what is best for the team, and we’ll be competitive all year long.”
Senior Nico Agritelley has also seen potential on this year’s roster, specifically the spread of ability across the board regardless of classification.
“Any one of our guys could play anywhere in the lineup,” Agritelley said. “All the way from the freshmen up to me as the senior, the playing ability is about the same throughout. It’s difficult to find that much talent and depth on a team.”
As the only senior, Agritelley has found himself in a unique role of leadership on the court, and has used his seniority as an opportunity to lead by example and help the team grow together overall. He said that though he is in a role of leadership, the quality of players this year makes it possible for every member to pull their own weight and bring success to the team.
“Each year I have felt confident in the team dynamics, but this year is a special year. The amount of talent we have on this team one probably one of the best ACU’s men’s tennis team has ever seen,” Agritelley said.
Such talent includes Agritelley himself who had successful showings last season with doubles partner sophomore Josh Sheehy. Sheehy is now paired with his brother, freshman Jonathan Sheehy, and Agritelley is paired with junior Henry Adams. Each of the duos have high hopes into the ITA Championships.
Agritelley said that the biggest thing for the team to work on right now is to continue playing points, sets, matches, and just any type of competitive points.
The Wildcats begin competing in the ITA All-American Championships Saturday and it will run through Oct. 10.
