Men's tennis preps for rough schedule
By Eric Nelson
Living up to last year's accomplishments will not be an easy task for Santa Clara. After a record breaking 18-7 season capped by an appearance in the West Coast Conference Finals, the men's tennis team plans to continue building on last year's ground-breaking success.
With a 5-2 victory against No. 60 UCSB, No. 62 Santa Clara extended their home winning streak to four matches, and their overall record to 6-4.
"We're really trying to find ourselves right now," said fourth year coach Derek Mills. "We're still not quite sure where we sit as of right now, but moving forward we definitely have an opportunity to get where we were last year and even beyond."
So far this season, the Broncos have squared off with some of the nation's top talent and managed to hold their own.
Despite rough early losses to No. 8 Stanford and No. 21 Pepperdine, the Broncos have pulled off important wins over in-conference rival Loyola Marymount University as well as the University of Iowa.
Close losses to national powerhouse No. 25 Vanderbilt and No. 58 Arkansas on the road only provided an increase in team morale and confidence.
"After losing to a top 30 team like Vandy 4-3 we really realized that we could compete with anybody in the nation," junior captain Nicolas Vinel said. "We were all slightly disappointed with the loss because we knew if we just win that last match we could shoot up the rankings 20, maybe 30, spots."
Mills added, "You could tell everybody was in a little bit of a funk after losing to Vanderbilt, and it's taken the better part of two weeks to move on from it but I really believe we have the opportunity to build on it and come back stronger then ever."
When asked what will give Santa Clara the extra edge to pull off wins in some of these tight matches against ranked teams on the road, Vinel observed that it might just be a confidence issue.
"Given our youth it's pretty easy to see how people might feel a little intimidated by rankings or bigger schools," Vinel said. "That's where I feel like it's my job as somebody who has been on the team to make sure all the young guys have the confidence to compete and the fire to push through."
Weekly visits by a sports psychologist have even resulted in team wristbands reading "fight to the end" in big bold white letters framed in a border of Santa Clara red.
Mills hopes that this message will instill in his young players the confidence and will to push through and prevail.
Taking full advantage of psychological tricks and confidence boosters is exactly what the Broncos will need if they are going to stand a chance at reaching some of the lofty goals they have set for themselves this year.
"We're not stopping until we've received that bid for the NCAA tournament," said Vinel. "Either we're going to have to beat some ranked teams and move into the top 40 for an at-large bid or we're going to have to unseat Pepperdine in the WCC tournament. Either way we just need to keep working hard and keep our eyes on the prize."
Ranked teams dominate Santa Clara's upcoming schedule, as the Broncos are in the midst of playing seven ranked teams in eight matches.
"Getting to the NCAA tournament is difficult but doable thanks to the strength of schedule that we play," said Mills.
With upcoming matches against No. 31 Fresno State and No. 19 University of Washington, there will be plenty of chances for the Broncos to add to their tournament resume.
Contact Eric Nelson at ehnelson@scu.edu or (408) 551-1819.