Set to serve: Utah State men’s and women’s tennis teams compete in fall tournaments
The Utah State men’s and women’s tennis teams are gearing up for a strong fall season.
“This is our second week of practice so we’re still assessing where everyone’s at, but we like what we see,” said head coach Christian Wright.
Wright and assistant coach Bryant Marchant said the fall season is based on individual performance and preparing for team play in the winter. The men and women on both teams are preparing for their opening matches on Thursday, traveling to Weber State and then BYU.
“It will be our first good chance to see how they do, with an environment they’re not used to and new opponents,” Wright said.
The teams will continue to play in 64 or 128-player tournaments throughout the fall, entering as individuals. Players then carry the experience and points gained into Western Athletic Conference play beginning next semester.
“I’d like everyone to win in the fall, until we have to play each other,” said senior Jaci West.
Men’s Tennis
Following a disappointing 2011-2012 campaign, the Aggie men are looking to rebound starting this fall.
“Talent-wise we like what we see,” Wright said. “Last year the guys got hit by the injury bug, a lot of the team was sick. We didn’t really see what they were capable of.”
The men on the team are looking to learn from last year’s adversity and open well this year.
“They were young, but I see good things coming from the guy’s team,” Wright said.
The Aggies see the return of several key performers from last year’s squad, including senior Sven Poslusny from Germany and junior Fredrik Peterson from Sweden.
“Sven had a very good year last year,” Wright said. “He was second team all-conference in singles and actually was on the verge of knocking two of his opponents off that were in the top-50 of the country in rankings. He’s really in a caliber where he can contend.”
For Peterson, this fall will be about upping his game and preparing to help his team come winter.
“This fall I will try to play a little more aggressive and try to improve my game here, of course,” he said. “Try to shorten the points down and hit a few more winners.”
Wright said he counts on the seniority of Poslusny to be his leadership and help the team become better throughout the fall.
Women’s Tennis
“Ducks fly together.”
That’s the motto for the Aggie Women this year as they look to improve individually and push each other as a team.
“I’m just looking forward to the competition,” West said. “I want us to play our best.”
West and sophomore standout McKenzie Davis both return as second-team all-WAC performers and lead a solid one-two punch for the Aggies.
“I had a really good freshman season but I don’t want to settle for that,” Davis said. “I want to progress through my years playing and I’m looking to do better than last year.”
West, Julie Tukuafu and Kristina Voytsekhovich are three seniors who Wright is counting on for leadership. He said he’s hoping their experience can help lead a relatively young team.
“We returned five girls, three new,” he said. “It’ll be fun to see them in action, give us a good indication of what we need to work on.”
For West, previous results don’t matter as the team is burying the past and looking to improve step by step in each tournament.
“I like to be the underdog,” she said. “I feel like we’re the underdog as a team and I can be an underdog individually.”
Davis said her goal is to go undefeated this season.
“Why not?” Davis said. “We just want to come out and win every match.”
– m.hop@aggiemail.usu.edu
Twitter:@legendarymhops