Men beat USC Aiken, snap losing streak
Injuries have caused the Men’s Tennis Team to drop three really close matches against ranked opponents: No. 12 University of South Carolina Upstate, No. 11 Lander, and No. 3 Valdosta State, but as the team prepares for the conference tournament, injuries are the last things on their minds.
“Everyone has in some way been injured (on the team),” Head Coach Steve Barsby said. “We’re trying (to rebuild) the team unity. We have to put the injuries aside and work harder, that’s the main factor. I mean, we stretch a little more because of those injuries (but that’s it).”
With the loss of Eric Siquiera, the No. 1 player on the team, for the entire season and the loss of No. 2 player Rodrigo Yamauti to a twisted ankle, several players have stepped up into higher positions and therefore had to play more difficult opponents. Renato Oliveira, a senior and the No. 5 player, commented on the loss of Siquiera and Yamauti.
“It’s (causing) a lot of losses. We’re losing some matches we should have won. They’re some good players, especially Siquiera.” Oliveira said, “Coach is expecting a lot from the seniors. He asked us to step it up because (of the injuries). We have three games this week before the conference tournament. We are going to try to win them , so we’re going to do our best and (hopefully) go to the regionals.”
The Bobcats finished this weekend with a close loss to No. 12 Brigham Young University at Hawaii, 5-3 and a loss to No. 2 Oachita Baptist, 7-2. Before the weekend the team dropped three straight to No. 12 USC Upstate, No. 11 Lander, and No. 3 Valdosta State; but these losses have only steeled the team’s resolve and further reinforced the aspect that the team still has its best games to play. Barsby commented on the team pushing past the injuries to continuing to play well.
“Well, we make the schedule a year in advance and you play the hand you’re dealt,” Barsby said. “Yeah, we lost some tight ones, but the guys have stepped up. We play a schedule that half of our teams we play, 12 -15 of the games we play out of the 25, are in the top 20 in the country.”
Concerning the team play, Barsby said, “We’ve played well; we’re just lacking the depth. We’re in a conference (in which) the team that’s last place is ranked 30th in the country, so we play a tough conference schedule to begin with, but when we get to the conference tournament, if we’re going to be successful, we have to be ready to play good teams.”
Among the tennis players, one in particular sees through the clouds to the silver lining in the losses of the team’s key players. Melvin Smith, a walk-on to the team, feels the team has the chance to see different players step up in their play.
“It’s given me a chance to really show I’ve been working hard,” Smith said. “Of course it would help to have those guys in the lineup, but I think the guys that are in the lineup now have really stepped up and we have made this year where we still have a chance to really finish high.”
Smith also discussed a meeting that Barsby had with the players concerning their recent losing streak.
Smith described the meeting after their trip to Pensacola last week, saying that “Coach pulled us in for a meeting one morning and pretty much told us that if we didn’t want to work hard and wanted to sit back and think about the injuriess, we could finish the year with 6 (or) 7 straight losses, or we could pick it up and still have a strong season,” Smith said. “I think that meeting with all the players made everybody realize that we weren’t out of it, that we were beating quality teams and we have all stepped it up since then.”
The Bobcats won Wednesday against No. 28 USC Aiken, snapping a six match losing streak with a 9-0 victory. They play again Sunday against Anderson in Milledgeville.
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Apr 7 2006. Filed under Sports.
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