The men’s tennis team returned from Tulsa, Oklahoma after competing at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s Men’s All-American Championships this past weekend.
The atmosphere of the All-America Championships is highly competitive with athletes coming to play from universities all over the country, but junior Henry Adams said that he believes his team can compete at the same level as some of the big name schools, and they did.
Wildcats Nicholas Agritelley and brothers Jonathan and Joshua Sheehy were also among those competing in Tulsa alongside Adams. Freshman Jonathan Sheehy won his first round match against Lucas Pereira of South Dakota State with two 6-2 sets, but fell 6-1 and 6-3 in his second round match against Connor Curry of Texas Tech. Senior Nico Agritelley lost first round to UNC Greensboro’s Connor Thompson in a battle of three sets, and sophomore Josh Sheehy fell first round in his tight match against Jan Pehnec of Oral Roberts with close sets of 7-5 and 7-6.
“There were definitely some talented guys at the tournament, but everyone on our team are in the same class,” Adams said. “Sometimes it is not all about talent but playing with discipline and keeping a level head when the match isn’t going our way. It reaffirmed our belief that we can hang with any division-one school we face.”
Adams came out victorious in his first match of the draw, going 6-3 in both sets to win him the match against Oral Roberts University’s Alvaro Santamaria. Adams then fell to Mitch Harper of Virginia Tech in a close match that consisted of a tiebreak set of 7-6 and a set of 6-4 that gave Harper the win.
Adams felt good about his performance as well as the performance of his fellow Wildcats. As for Adams as an individual, he is looking to get better to where when faced with an evenly matched opponent, he can come out on top with the victory.
“In tennis there is always something that can be worked on, but specifically for me, I need to work on solidifying a lead when I get a leg up on my opponent.” Adams said. “I played a tough second round match against a solid opponent and it gave me confidence knowing I can compete at a high level from match to match.”
Up next on the schedule the Wildcats will be traveling to compete against the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque this weekend.
