After receiving the fifth seed in the Southland Conference Tournament in 2006, both the men and women’s tennis teams have been improving under the new direction of recently appointed head coach Jim Hunter. Hunter was introduced as the Colonels head coach after previous coach Dominic Modise resigned to take a coaching position at the University of Colorado.
Prior to taking the position at Nicholls, Hunter coached at universities such as Southeastern University, University of New Orleans, Loyola University-New Orleans and Notre Dame University.
Hunter was retired until he decided to take the head coaching position at Nicholls.
“After Dominic Modise left the team, the kids here were by themselves. I had watched them play in several games in the previous season and they never gave up,” Hunter said. “I really liked the team so I decided to help them. I recruited five players and just got attached to the team. It was so easy to get attached because these kids are great and Nicholls is such a nice school.”
The men’s and women’s tennis teams opened their seasons Jan. 19 in Little Rock, Ark., facing Oral Roberts University and Arkansas Little Rock University.
Both teams played Oral Roberts and came out victorious in the match ups. The men’s team won 4-3 and the women’s team won 4-1.
Hunter said the teams’ wins against Oral Roberts University gave the them confidence and showed how much they have improved since last season.
“Our teams played exceptionally, and it meant a lot to our players, I don’t think the women have had a Division I win in a few years, so that was exciting,” Hunter said.
After the wins against Oral Roberts, the Colonels faced their first losses of the season as they faced Arkansas-Little Rock. The men’s team lost 7-0 and the women’s team fell 4-0.
Both teams have a strong schedule ahead with larger conference opponents on the road such as the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Memphis University and Southern Mississippi University.
Hunter said the teams had a tough schedule early on, and now they have some time to prepare for the upcoming matches.
“The schedule really tested our team early and now we have a break where we can improve on our understanding of the offense and condition properly,” Hunter said.
Hunter said he believes winning games is the result of perseverance and determination of his tennis players.
“We have to create our own respect by working hard and beating opponents,” Hunter said, “Losing can become a problem and teams can get used to losing games. Our team has to expect to win and learn to win.”
The men’s and women’s tennis teams go on the road this week to face the University of Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns Feb. 2 at 2:30 p.m.
