Under the direction of second year head coach Jim Hunter, the Nicholls men’s tennis team started the season on a high note with a win over Xavier University and a strong showing at the Little Rock Racquet Club Invitational. “I am very proud of the players and pleased with the way that we started the season,” Hunter said. “These players are very hardworking and exceptional athletes.”
The Colonels opened the season with a 5-4 victory over Xavier University Jan. 21.
In the opening singles events, both the Colonels and the Xavier Gold Rush split the matches. Of the six matches against Xavier, the Colonels won the second, third and fourth slots.
With both teams tied heading into the doubles event, the Colonels won the first set and lost the second.
Freshmen Radu Ionesucu and junior Vlad-Lucian Popa won with a 8-3 decision in the first doubles match, and sophomores Eric Fisher and Phenyo Matong captured an 8-4 victory, giving the Colonels an overall 5-4 victory.
The following weekend, the tennis team went on the road to compete in the Little Rock Racquet Club Invitational hosted by the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
In the first game of the tournament Friday, Nicholls picked up a 7-2 win over the Belmont University Bruins.
The Colonels lost one of six matches in the singles event and won two of three doubles matches to claim the 7-2 win over the Bruins.
Nicholls faced a more formidable opponent in the second game of the tournament when they faced Arkansas University at Little Rock, a team commonly ranked in the top 75 of Division I teams.
In the singles competition, Nicholls lost five of six matches with the sole win coming from Fisher, claiming a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 over a Arkansas Little Rock opponent.
The doubles competition against UALR was also unfavorable for the Colonels with the Trojans winning two of three matches for the 6-1 win.
The last day of the tournament, the Colonels returned to win against Saint Louis University.
Nicholls claimed four of six matches in the singles events and two of three matches in the doubles event.
Popa, the most experienced player on the men’s team, has been making strides in his performance and dominating in matches. The junior is undefeated in singles matches and has lost one doubles match.
“All of the opponents were really good, but I just played really hard and won the games,” Popa said.
Nicholls returns to action today when they travel to the University of Louisiana Lafayette. The games will begin at 1 p.m.
The Colonels’ (3-1, 0-0 SLC) opening home game will take place Feb. 9 at 11 a.m. when they host the 2007 historically black college national champions Florida A&M University Rattlers.
