Season comes to an end for Nicholls tennis

The Nicholls State University men’s and women’s tennis teams are nearing the ends of their respective seasons. While the men have concluded their season, the women still have one more game to play vs. Sam Houston State University on Saturday, April 21st. Neither team will qualify for the Southland Conference (SLC) tournament at the end of the season.

MATCH RECAPS
Both Colonel tennis teams have struggled during their past couple of games. Spanning their past five games, the men’s team has posted a record of 1-4, with a 0-7 loss coming recently in an April 19th match vs. SLC foe Lamar University. The Colonels dropped all their singles matches, and were unable to take any doubles matches as well. This loss dropped the men’s team to 5-12 on the season, with a 1-4 record in Southland play.

The women’s team has faired better over their past five games played, going 3-2 over that stretch. Those two losses, however, came to SLC opponents, including a 0-7 defeat at the hands of first-place McNeese State University. The Colonels struggled, getting swept in all singles and doubles matches. The women’s team currently sits at 11-10, with a 2-8 SLC record.

BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE
While this season did not end as either the men’s or women’s teams had hoped, they both have the building blocks set up for success in the near future.

“I’ve been here about 18-months, and where we are today versus where we were 18 months ago, it’s a totally different program and a totally different team,” said head tennis coach Greg Harkins. “We’ve actually grown tremendously. The women last year were 6-14, and they’re going to finish either 12-10 or 11-11 so we’ve doubled out output on the women’s side. On the men’s side, we had some individual growth. We had five freshmen this year, so it’s a brand new team from start to finish, but the culture we’re trying to implement and the ideology of success is really starting to grow amongst both programs.”

“Where we’re heading now is really exciting. We’ve got a lot of support from the administration, from (athletic director) Matt Roan, who is in his second year as the AD now,” explained Harkins. “The recruiting class that we just signed this past week, on paper, is a next level up from the classes that we have now. What we’re trying to do is we’re stabilizing the programs, but at the same time, we’re able to bring in another level that can add depth and consistency across the line.”