Pratt, Kan. - This past weekend, January 30-February 2 kicked off the start of the men's tennis season for Pratt Community College. They traveled to Nebraska and played 3 matches over the three days. They began their trip with the University of Nebraska – Kearney, a top Division 2 school. That match was played on Friday, January 31. Following that match, the tennis program had two matches against Division 1 schools. On Saturday, February 1, they matched up with Creighton University and on Sunday, February 2, they competed against the University of Nebraska – Omaha. These three matches were a great way of seeing how the team competes against top competition.
Prior to the trip, assistant coach Eli Truhe was excited about the first action of the spring. According to him, the whole coaching staff was ready for the season to get underway and to see how the players respond to high levels of competition. The team has a fresh face in Kenneth Rabinad Vila who is new this semester. The team also tried out some different doubles pairings. It was be a great trip for the team to evaluate itself and see where it needs more work.
The players expect to be successful despite the tough teams that they faced. The whole team has been excited for the past two weeks about the opportunity to get on court and compete in matches against other schools. Thio Tshivhase, a freshman, taked about his excitement prior to the mathes. The level of competition was one thing that really enticed him. He did joke about the hardest part about the trip being his need to find time to study. He had a test, a speech, and homework all due on Monday. The Men's team has been among the best in the school in terms of GPA under the direction of head coach Jeret Johnson and there are no signs of that dropping off.
The spring season is the team-based portion of the year for the tennis team. The Men's team is very strong and is hoping to have a great year. They will play many Division 1 and Division 2 programs before hosting conference in April. The team expects to do very well and to represent PCC with Pride.
The team finished the road trip 1-2 with a win vs Kearney and a loss to both division 1 programs. The first match featured a very slow start by the Beavers, who lost all 3 doubles matches before making a comeback in the singles matches. The Creighton and Omaha matches both finished 1-6 despite many courts having close results.
Wins included
#1 singles: Khamrotau (PCC) over Constantine (UNK) 7-5, 7-6 (3)
#3 singles: Kawada (PCC) over Brisdon (UNK) 7-6 (9), 2-6, 6-3
#4 singles: Rabinad Vila (PCC) over Van De Dungen (UNK) 1-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4
#6 singles: Golobart (PCC) over Stlzelcki (UNK) 6-4, 6-2
#3 singles: Kawada (PCC) over Stollecker (CU) 6-3, 6-2
#2 Doubles Kawada/Rabinad Vila (PCC) over Uppu/Korkunov (UNO) 7-6 (5)
#4 Singles Rabinad Vila (PCC) over Trevey (UNO) 3-6, 6-3, 11-9