The men’s tennis team fell to Midwestern State last Friday 9-0. The Tigers were held to no more than a game in each of the three doubles matches they played. On Easter Sunday the men were blanked again, 7-0, this time at the hands of Northern Colorado University.
Even though the two losses may appear bad on paper, it is worth noting that Midwestern is a high-ranked Division II team, and NCU is Division I. Losses at the hands of such high-caliber teams are not unexpected, and competing against them can serve as a learning opportunity.
“It was the toughest weekend of tennis on our schedule,” said Head Coach Anthony Weber. “Midwestern State who we played on Friday is the No. 11 team in the country in Division II… and Northern Colorado is a Division I program. There are only a handful of teams in Division III that could take matches from either program.”
Senior Taylor Delehanty played solid sets in his singles match, and kept it close in his doubles matchup playing alongside sophomore Brian Chen.
Weber wasn’t too distraught by the losses, choosing to view the competition against two tough schools as something that was beneficial to the team’s development.
“There are still benefits to us playing these schools,” said Weber. “In doubles, we won’t see the same kind of pace of play against the DIII teams, and if we’re able to stay in a few games, that’s very positive. It’s beneficial to see how quickly these teams are able to transition between defense and offense in singles, and our guys get to see firsthand how they construct points.”
The timing of these matches can help the men’s squad gear up for the high-pressure conference play that takes place over Block Break 7.
“The guys set a goal at the start of the season to finish the spring with a regional ranking in the West region,” Weber said. “When we play Schreiner and Texas Lutheran (No. 20 in the West) in April in Austin, that’ll be our measuring stick for the season.”
CC’s upcoming games should prove to be more evenly-matched. Catch the Tigers in action today at 4 p.m. against Hastings College for the beginning of a three-match home stand. Then, the men will face Colorado Mesa University in a re-scheduled match this Saturday.