The men’s and women’s tennis programs went undefeated over the weekend, as the men swept Hardin-Simmons and McMurry 7-0 on Friday and Sunday. Meanwhile, the women bested conference foes McNeese, 7-0, and Southeastern Louisiana, 4-1.
The men’s program, now 3-5, gains some confidence back after a tough stretch early in the season.
“That’s what these matches are for,” head coach Juan Nunez said. “Almost three weeks with no competition so this weekend was huge. A tough road test is coming up and I didn’t wanna go over there with no matches in about a month. HSU and McMurry are always gonna give their best, it’s a Super Bowl for them.”
Fatigue and low energy settled in early for the men, but Nunez’s program bounced back to sweep HSU and McMurry.
“A little low on energy against HSU and it wasn’t quite where I wanted it to be,” Nunez said. “I want my guys to understand that it’s about more than just winning 7-0. Today I pushed them harder, and they finished really strong on singles. We played more confident and took more charge today.”
The men head to Houston, taking on Rice on Saturday, and then UTSA in San Antonio on Sunday.
“I knew spring break and our conference schedule was coming soon after that when I planned this road trip,” Nunez said. “I wanted these matches to be closer to our level than teams like Baylor and OU. After Sunday, I need to know that we’re at our best for conference play.”
The women beat Wichita State, 6-4 Wednesday.
“After the snowpocalypse, the girls were lucky enough to practice inside for a few days,” assistant coach Bryan Rainwater said. “We had some tough matches and were a little banged up heading into Wednesday. We didn’t know if we were going to get to conference play healthy.”
The women improve to 6-7 on the year after this week’s matches.
“We proved this weekend that we’re good,” senior Ileana Mocciola said. “We know we can push our limits this week and recover well. I believe we’re very tough and ready for everything.”
Next up for the women is SFA and Sam Houston in conference play on Friday and Sunday.
“Next five matches are at home which is huge for us,” Rainwater said. “We’re gonna take time to get recovered, we’re not having practice tomorrow because we have to get healthy. I feel confident that this week we’ll have a good week at home.”
