Paige Boylkin, business management sophomore, and Madeline Schorlemmer, psychology junior, wait for the serve at the Tarleton State game April 14. Photo by Francisco Martinez
Men and women’s tennis have four weeks left to work their way to the NCAA Division II National Championships.
“Our goal is to be playing on May 16 with both teams,” Linn said.
With a big goal set, Linn said confidence is key for reaching that goal.
“Confidence is huge because you can do all the right things in training and preparation and hard work but if the brain gets in the way and you don’t believe you can get it done, you don’t believe you can outwork your opponent, you don’t believe you can find their weakness, if you don’t believe you can close off or knock off a volley on a game point, then you can do all the training in the world but you’re going to hesitate in the moment,” Linn said.
Linn said players on both teams are progressing on the right track to reach their goals, playing in tough tournaments and improving in the areas needed.
“I’m very happy with this year’s team,” Linn said. “I do think we have our sights set on big things and we have the people to do it but it will be a full team effort.”
Men
On a five-game winning streak, the men’s team have three matches to go before entering into the NCAA II Regional Championship Tournament.
“We’re in a good position if we finish strong this season,” Linn said.
Mechanical engineering senior Tomas Grejtak said the team is one of the best in the nation.
“I think we are the top team in the nation but maybe the best teams in the nation are a little bit better so we have to work harder,” Grejtak said. “We know we can be national champions.”
Linn said there’s an expectation on the team to do well in the progression of the tennis program.
“I think we have returners that understand what college season is all about and the expectations in our program,“ he said. “We’ve had good leadership from our upperclassmen and we’ve had new players come into the program and step up and play well at times.”
With the belief and full effort from everybody in the program, Linn said the team will be successful.
“If we put complete matches together there are very few Division II teams that can beat us,” he said. “If we put a full match together where we’re locked in as a program, I would like to believe that we can beat anybody in the country.”
Math and psychology sophomore Ramon Toyos said the team tries to do things outside of the court like team dinners or hanging out together.
“Tennis is an individual sport but we play as a team so it’s really important that we are a good group of guys who are friends as well as teammates,” Grejtak said.
Despite the teams winning record of 15-5 and a difficult schedule, Linn said they let a few matches get away that could’ve been won but they have learned from those losses.
“You’re going to find a way to win those matches or you’re going to learn from them,” Linn said.
Learning from mistakes made in the past helps the team move forward, Linn said going into matches the focus is on strengths instead of weaknesses.
“We’ve been working pretty hard every practice and trying to keep the level high the whole time so that when we get to important matches we don’t really need to change anything, we’re more relaxed,” Toyos said.
The seniors will play their last home game this Friday at the MSU Tennis center.
Women
A tough season’s schedule including teams of a higher division is what helps the women’s team have a successful turnout.
“We got better believing in what we’re capable of doing as a team,” Linn said. “Playing Southern Methodist University showed the team that they can win against a tougher team.”
The team played Division I Texas State April 11 in San Marcos and fell short 4-3. Although it went down in the books as a loss, mass communication senior Taylor Coffman said it was an important match for the team to play.
“It was a good match to play especially at the end of our season because we’re getting ready to go into post-season play so playing that match really opened our eyes to how good we really are because we believe we should’ve won that match and we know what we need to do to get to that level,” Coffman said.
Psychology junior Madeline Shorlemmer said although they lost by one point, the loss wasn’t a bad one but rather a good one which makes it easier to continue playing hard.
“We went out there with a different mindset,” Schorlemmer said. “Going to a Division I school they feel like they’re going to beat us but that makes us want it that much more.”
Linn said the match played at Texas State gave the team confidence, an important factor in playing tennis, and if focus would have been kept tight throughout the match it would’ve been another win for their 13-6 record.
“We had our chance in that match and lost because focus was lost,” Linn said. “The focus has to be there the entire time in a match.”
Coffman said the team is working on staying focused so that they can finish their season successfully.
“We’re working on staying focused in tight situations and making sure we go after our shots and not back away,” she said.
The women played Tarleton State April 14 at the MSU Tennis Center and finished with a win of 8-1.
Coffman said even though she lost she keeps in mind that her team is really strong and is there to take away the pressure.
“I know that my team has my back so I’m not really worried about if I don’t get this done then everything will be ruined because I know that they have their matches down,” she said.
Schorlemmer said people always say tennis is an individual sport, but when playing on a college team it is different.
“For me it’s probably 90 percent of it because even though you’re out there by yourself for singles, you’re still playing for your girls,” she said.
Schorlemmer and Coffman play doubles together and Coffman said hearing encouragement from her teammate right next to her on the court makes it that much easier for her.
“In a way it is kind of a one person sport, you’re out there by yourself but you wouldn’t be able to go through and win matches that you need to win if you didn’t have your teammates right next to you,” Coffman said. “That’s really important because we play by ourselves but we play for MSU as a whole.”
Even if it’s a bad day of tennis Schorlemmer said the team still works together as one.
“From the beginning to the end, if we continue what we’re doing then we’ll have a ton of success just because nobody goes out there and plays for themselves.”
The team will travel to Lawton today to play Cameron University at 2 pm.
