Utah State netters hold key qualites
Coachability.
It is something Chris Wright, head coach of the Utah State men’s tennis team said he looks for in a player during the recruiting process.
It is also a quality Wright said he feels members of the 2002-03 men’s tennis team possess and will be crucial to the team’s success in the spring season.
“I don’t want to have a kid come in, even if he is one of the best players we’re recruiting, and have him not buy into what we’re trying to get him to do,” he said. “It they’re not willing to do that, then it kind of puts a big drain on the whole team.
“[Fortunately] we’ve always had good kids as far as [coachability] goes,” he said. “They’ve got a lot of enthusiasm, just great attitudes. It’s something we talk about all of the time, but I feel it’s really important. Your attitude controls your altitude. If you have a good attitude, you’re going to be able to make improvements and become a better player.”
The Aggies will have their first chance to put this coachability to the test when they open their spring season on Friday against the Air Force Academy.
When USU takes the court against Air Force, several players will be donning the Aggie blue and white for the first time — at least during the regular season.
USU returns just three letterwinners from last year’s squad, all of which have at least two years of experience. With the exception of juniors Jonah Nelson and Jason Trask and lone senior Jordan Butler, none of the other players were with the team a year ago.
“It’s an interesting mix, because we have some veterans and some newcomers, too,” Butler said. “We don’t really have any middle ground [players]. It’s either they’ve been here three years or not at all.”
Among the newcomers for USU are BYU-Hawaii transfers Brandon Butler (Jordan’s brother) and Hung Soon Park, and Central Connecticut State University transfer Jacob Jensen. Butler, Park and Jensen are joined by fellow sophomore Ryan Bair, who played his freshman year at USU before serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The Aggies will also have the services of freshman Andy Marsh, and Italy native Hannes Schenk, who has been with the team for a week, Wright said.
Although Friday’s match against AFA will be the first team match for several Aggies, the Utah State newcomers did gain some experience in the fall. USU competed in three preseason tournaments — the Weber State Open, the BYU Invitational and the Rolex Region VII Invitational — in the fall.
In these tournaments, the Aggie players competed as individuals as opposed to the team format, which starts up in the spring season. Most importantly, Butler said these tournaments showed the newcomers what it takes to compete at the Division I level.
“The thing about the fall season is it’s not as much about wins and losses as [it is] preparing for January,” he said. “If there’s a weakness in your game, you try and work on it during a match, whereas maybe in a match that counts more, you’re going to just try and do what you can to win.”
Despite USU’s inexperience, Butler is confident the team is primed for success. Both Butler and Wright said they feel the program continues to become stronger, and the talent-level continues to increase.
“Each year I feel like we’ve gotten a little stronger,” Wright said. “I think that it just takes a couple of good players to come, and word of mouth spreads.”
Butler said, “We have gotten more respect as each year goes on. Teams fear us more than they used to. I just think the talent level has gotten
better.”
In order for the Aggies to build on last season’s 7-13 record, Wright said it is imperative his players learn to play outside of their comfort zones. Whether it is attacking the net more or hitting an inside-out backhand, he said this is a must if USU wants to become a better team.
“I’m trying to get them to stick with what got them to the point they’re at, to develop their strengths, but to be a little more well-rounded at the same time,” he said.
Avoiding the injury bug will also be paramount to the team’s success. Last year’s squad was riddled by injuries, especially Nelson, who missed the last half of the season with a stress fracture in his arm.
Fortunately for the Aggies, Butler — who is also recovering from a stress fracture in his arm — said USU is relatively healthy at this time.
“I think that is going to be one of the keys,” he said. “If we can stay healthy, we’re going to be really solid.”
–jasonwturner@cc.usu.eduBy Jason Turner
Assistant Sports Editor
Coachability.
It is something Chris Wright, head coach of the Utah State men’s tennis team said he looks for in a player during the recruiting process.
It is also a quality Wright said he feels members of the 2002-03 men’s tennis team possess, and will be crucial to the team’s success in the spring season.
“I don’t want to have a kid come in, even if he is one of the best players we’re recruiting, and have him not buy into what we’re trying to get him to do,” he said. “It they’re not willing to do that, then it kind of puts a big drain on the whole team.
“[Fortunately] we’ve always had good kids as far as [coachability] goes,” he said. “They’ve got a lot of enthusiasm, just great attitudes. It’s something we talk about all of the time, but I feel it’s really important. Your attitude controls your altitude. If you have a good attitude, you’re going to be able to make improvements and become a better player.”
The Aggies will have their first chance to put this coachability to the test when they open their spring season on Friday against the Air Force Academy.
When USU takes the court against Air Force, several players will be donning the Aggie blue and white for the first time — at least during the regular season.
USU returns just three letterwinners from last year’s squad, all of which have at least two years of experience. With the exception of juniors Jonah Nelson and Jason Trask and lone senior Jordan Butler, none of the other players were with the team a year ago.
“It’s an interesting mix, because we have some veterans and some newcomers, too,” Butler said. “We don’t really have any middle ground [players]. It’s either they’ve been here three years or not at all.”
Among the newcomers for USU are BYU-Hawaii transfers Brandon Butler (Jordan’s brother) and Hung Soon Park, and some Connecticut school (am working on this, Mike) transfer Jacob Jensen. Butler, Park and Jenson are joined by fellow sophomore Ryan Bair, who played his freshman year at USU before serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The Aggies will also have the services of freshman Andy Marsh, and Italy native Hannes Schenk, who has been with the team for a week, Wright said.
Although Friday’s match against AFA will be the first team match for several Aggies, the Utah State newcomers did gain some experience in the fall. USU competed in three preseason tournaments — the Weber State Open, the BYU Invitational and the Rolex Region VII Invitational — in the fall.
In these tournaments, the Aggie players competed as individuals as opposed to the team format, which starts up in the spring season. Most importantly, Butler said these tournaments showed the newcomers what it takes to compete at the Division I level.
“The thing about the fall season is it’s not as much about wins and losses as [it is] preparing for January,” he said. “If there’s a weakness in your game, you try and work on it during a match, whereas maybe in a match that counts more, you’re going to just try and do what you can to win.”
Despite USU’s inexperience, Butler is confident the team is primed for success. Both Butler and Wright said they feel the program continues to become stronger, and the talent-level continues to increase.
“Each year I feel like we’ve gotten a little stronger,” Wright said. “I think that it just takes a couple of good players to come, and word of mouth spreads.”
Butler said, “We have gotten more respect as each year goes on. Teams fear us more than they used to. I just think the talent-level has gotten better.”
In order for the Aggies to build on last season’s 7-13 record, Wright said it is imperative his players learn to play outside of their comfort zones. Whether it is attacking the net more or serving and volleyball, he said this is a must if USU wants to become a better team.
“I’m trying to get them to stick with what got them to the point they’re at, to develop their strengths, but to be a little more well-rounded at the same time,” he said.
Avoiding the injury bug will also be paramount to the team’s success. Last year’s squad was riddled by injuries, especially Nelson, who missed the last half of the season with a stress fracture in his arm.
Fortunately for the Aggies, Butler — who is also recovering from a stress fracture in his arm — said USU is relatively healthy at this time.
“I think that is going to be one of the keys,” he said. “If we can stay healthy, we’re going to be really solid.”
–jasonwturner@cc.usu.edu