Young USU tennis club qualifies for nationals
By Megan Bodily
staff writer
It was two years ago that the Utah State tennis club began. Now the club is gaining statewide attention for qualifying for the nationals for the first time.
Co-president Mike Sheffield is excited about the rapid progress of the club.
“We did great,” Sheffield said. “Last year we took ninth, and this year we took second,” Sheffield said. “It’s fantastic, we are probably the best team in the state now.”
Participating in the United States Tennis Association’s program Tennis on Campus, the tennis club hosted and competed in the Rocky Mountain Regionals on March 9 and 10.
The tournament held in Salt Lake City is the closest regional tournament that determines which team gains entry into the national tournament. The club played against 18 other teams, all looking to go to the USTA’s national tournament held in Cary, N.C.
Dividing the club into two separately competing teams gave more members a chance to play. The upper-level Team Alpha placed second, just behind No. 8 nationally ranked University of Colorado.
Team Alpha members Chris Lloyd, Sheffield, Felix Birman, Hannah Phillips, Hilary Wright, Caleb Camp and Kyle Winmill played singles, doubles and mixed doubles for the tournament.
The co-presidents, Lloyd and Sheffield, found their club in a position Lloyd said they never imagined it would be in – qualifying for nationals but not being able to go.
“I think we were pretty confident that our Alpha team would qualify for nationals,” Lloyd said. “We prepared well for it. I think there is a little disappointment that we cannot financially afford it.”
As a new team in the program, USU has to prove itself against teams that have been around for much longer.
“It’s fun that we are so new,” Sheffield said. “A lot of the teams we compete against have been around for years. We are just getting it going and figuring things out. Hopefully next year we will qualify for the (national) tournament again.”
As a freshman and first-year member, Phillips was part of the national qualifying team and said she’s surprised by the success the team has had.
“I expected it to be not very serious. I didn’t think we would actually be competing,” Phillips said. “I thought it would be fun to play with a lot of different players. It was really exciting, exhilarating actually, (to play in regionals). Just being part of that team – together – it was cool to get to know the players better.”
Phillips said she doesn’t mind paying to play the sport she loves.
“It’s been interesting not to have (as much) university support,” Phillips said. “Everything we do, we have to fund ourselves, so it means a lot more, because we actually work for the things we do get to do.”
With players from all over the world, including Japan and South Korea, the tennis club has accumulated a dynamic array of high-level members, Lloyd said.
“(Sheffield) and I are very pleased with how the club has progressed,” Lloyd said. “I feel that it will get better and better.”
Birman, a transfer student from Indiana University, said he came to USU looking for a better medical program and joined the tennis club to get back into the sport after a three-year hiatus.
“Three years ago, I was rearended by a lady going 50 mph when I was stopped,” Birman said. “I had nine vertebrae in my back out of place.”
Before the accident, Birman said he was recruited by multiple universities, including West Point, but the accident ended his college tennis aspirations.
Lloyd said Birman’s style brings excitement to the matches.
“(Birman) has been a great asset to the team,” Lloyd said. “He’s very animated and energetic, and it’s a great tool and weapon. It’s kind of like have John McEnroe on the team.”
– mega.bodi@aggiemail.usu.edu