The men’s and women’s tennis teams caught momentum, winning all of their matches Friday and Saturday. The men beat UT-Permian Basin 6-1 on Friday and Trinity 5-2 on Saturday, and the women beat Tarleton 5-2 on Friday and UT-Permian Basin 7-0 on Saturday.
Despite Trinity beating Rice 4-3, the Wildcats handled the Tigers in a tough match. Consequently, the men have a 2-5 record after a tough start to the season.
“These were all very well coached teams that competed hard and were good tests for us,” said head coach Juan Nunez. “It’s really important for us to protect our home courts when someone comes into town. I’m really pleased with our performances.”
The women are 3-5 on the season after a tough test with Tarleton and UT-Permian Basin. The match against UTPB lasted only about an hour and 45 minutes, one of the fastest in program history.
“Tarleton punched us in the mouth,” Nunez said. “Didn’t start well but finished strong and the win carried over to UTPB. We gotta bring our energy to 110 percent every single time. Tarleton woke us up and we brought the energy up against UTPB.”
Sophomore Andrea Guerrero came in due to injuries against UTPB. However she gave her coaches confidence by winning her match 6-0, 6-0.
“Andrea made a big statement,” Nunez said. “We tell everyone to be ready at any given moment. She came in and took care of business. She’s showing that she’s ready which comforts us as coaches. She showed that we can rely on her.”
Sophomore Savan Chhabra lost his singles match against UTPB. However he got a singles win vs Trinity.
“Savan stepped up today,” Nunez said. “There’s so many good players in college tennis, so you always have to be ready. I told him that he’s gonna be better because of that loss. We’re very pleased with him and he knows we’re young and getting better.”
Next, the women head to Lubbock to face Texas Tech and New Mexico on Sunday. The women faces a 3-1 Red Readers program and the Loboes haven’t played yet.
“The margin for error gets smaller,” Nunez said. “We gotta play clean and make sure we’re not giving them anything. It’s always tough playing in Lubbock but our confidence is high. We have to believe we can win, otherwise it’s a wasted trip.”
Coming up for the guys are SMU and Tyler Junior College. The men faces a 6-5 SMU program this Saturday and a 1-0 Tyler JUCO team on Sunday.
“The guys need to continue what we did today,” Nunez said. “We can look at today and be happy. We can’t play too risky and have the same mentality going into these next few matches before conference play. It’s all about confidence for the guys.”
