Despite youth on both sides, the men’s and women’s tennis teams’ wins have piled up as the season winds down.
With the conference tournament approaching at the end of the April, the men’s team bolsters a 10-8 record and remains undefeated in conference at 3-0. Bernard Wezeman, freshman from Netherlands, is 7-9 overall in his matches, but has yet to lose to a conference opponent.
“It is good to know that we are playing well now and that we have a lot of potential,” Wezeman said. “Everyone is quite young, but it is great to see that we are doing well despite us being so young.”
Wezeman is confident they can beat anyone they face in conference, but he added there are areas they need to work on.
“Sometimes we struggle with keeping the energy throughout an entire match,” Wezeman said. “We have a lot of ups and downs. It is important for us to stay cool during the important points and stick to the basics.”
On the opposite side, the women are 10-5 overall and 4-2 in conference play. Sophomore from Germany, Isla Brock has obliterated her competition posting an 11-1 record. Her only loss came to Mcneese’s Vivien Borbely.
“Our team has great chemistry and our girls get along really well with each other,” Brock said. “The fact that we all like each other is showing in our tennis and we are off to a great start and I think we have more good stuff to come.”
The women’s team does not have two people from the same country. When Brock was asked about how they get along so well despite different cultures, she laughed and said they wonder that themselves.
“We are from everywhere and we get along so well. It really is amazing,” Brock added. “Everyone brings their own culture to the team and it is nice to see other cultures because we are all open for it.”
Head Coach Meenakshi Sundaram is in his third season and believes that the team can compete with anyone, but they have to believe that also.
“The team is hungry compared to the teams I have had in the past,” Sundaram said. “They were quite happy to hang around and play some tennis, get their college education and go. I came in and recruited kids that actually wanted to learn, play and win.”
Having so many international student athletes on his team, he wants them to understand their purpose here so they can succeed.
“A lot of players that come from overseas do not understand the opportunity and they are not reminded by the coaches that it is a privilege,” Sundaram said. “If you are going to play on scholarship and my tax dollars are going towards you and I am paying for your education, I will remind you all the time if you slack up.”
Sundarama talked about the limited resources and funding at Nicholls, but does not want that to be an excuse for lack of performance. With this in consideration, Sundaram seeks players who want to get better and not be mediocre.
“I have had a lot of excuses in the past, but they all come in with a positive energy and want to contribute,” Sundaram said.
The team will travel to Beaumont on Friday for a match with conference opponent University of Lamar.