This past Saturday, March 29, the Trinity men’s tennis team had a successful weekend as they defeated both Hardin-Simmons University and Laredo Community College at home.
Saturday the Tigers played Hardin Simmons who they shut out 9-0. Sophomore Paxton Deuel and senior Nico Moreno won at No. 1 doubles, senior Greg Haugen and sophomore Connor Dunn won at No. 2 doubles and junior Charlie Curtis and first-year Clayton Niess finished the doubles sweep. Then Deuel won at No. 1 singles, Haugen at No. 2, Dunn at No. 3, Curtis at No. 4, first-year Chas Mayer at No. 5 and first-year Manuel Brown at No. 6.
“It was a nice match to start us back up after not having played for a couple of weeks. The guys looked a little rusty out there at times but ultimately took care of it and it was a nice start to the second half of the season,” said head coach Russell McMindes.
Later in the day, the Tigers faced off against Laredo Community College. Dunn and Moreno won the first doubles at line No. 1, then Curtis and Niess won line No. 2 and the Tigers again swept doubles when sophomore Brandon Thompson and sophomore Eliot Guin won at No. 3 doubles. Deuel won the No. 1 singles for the team, but after that the team lost at No. 2, 3 and 4 singles. Curtis at No. 5 and Jordan Mayer at No. 6 gave the Tigers their 6-3 win.
“Our match against Laredo started off with a 3-0 lead in doubles which definitely helped to propel us into our singles matches. We have been doing better with doubles but we are still looking to switch things around. Our singles are very dependable and undoubtedly our strength right now but our goal for the next month is to figure out how to make our doubles stronger to give ourselves the best shot possible in the post-season tournaments,” Guin said.
Chas Mayer adds, “Sweeping doubles was really big for us because recently we haven’t swept many teams in doubles. To do it twice in one day, that was really nice for us because it gives you a lot more confidence going into singles, especially when you are playing some tough teams. It gives you a little bit of a mental load off knowing you don’t have to go there and win every single match.”
As far as the rest of the season goes, the Tigers hope to continue to have good forms in doubles matches and keep winning matches to put themselves in the best spot heading into the remainder of the season.
“Right now we are sitting at sixth in the nation but we are not satisfied. We are going for gold and will be working hard to give ourselves the best shot at nationals” Guin said.
All of the Tigers’ remaining matches this season are at home. Next Saturday, April 5, the Tigers face off against University of the Incarnate Word at 10 a.m. and then later against McMurry State University at 4 p.m. The team plays St. Mary’s, UT-Tyler, Texas Lutheran, UT-Dallas and Colorado College over the next few weeks. The home stretch concludes with the SCAC tournament which runs from Friday, April 25 to Sunday, April 27. The winner of the SCAC tournament will receive automatic qualification to the NCAA tournament.
