{"id":861,"date":"2014-04-18T19:03:49","date_gmt":"2014-04-18T19:03:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/?p=861"},"modified":"2014-04-18T19:03:49","modified_gmt":"2014-04-18T19:03:49","slug":"mens-tennis-grows-through-facing-adversity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/2014\/04\/18\/mens-tennis-grows-through-facing-adversity\/","title":{"rendered":"Men\u2019s Tennis grows through facing adversity"},"content":{"rendered":"

By CHARLIE GRIGSBY<\/strong> –\u00a0CENTO WRITER<\/em><\/p>\n

On paper, Centre Men\u2019s Tennis is having a tough year. With three series left in the season, their record sits at 3-12 (1-6 in conference). They\u2019ve won 19 of 56 singles and 11 of 34 doubles matches this year. They sit seventh in the SAA conference standings. This is their season, on paper.<\/p>\n

\"Junior<\/a>
Junior Woody Rini sends a shot over the net during a match earlier this season. The team is set to host Brescia University on Fri., April 18.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Then again, match results and standings are shallow reflections of a long season. For instance, six of those 12 losses are to Division-II or National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) schools.<\/p>\n

Those are the schools with indoor courts \u2014 and scholarship players \u2014 that Centre schedules early season in spite of the cold weather of late February and early March.<\/p>\n

Centre\u2019s also missing two starters from its 2013 roster, juniors Parker Lawson and Trey Williamson, who are abroad this semester.<\/p>\n

Missing two key players creates holes that underclassmen have to fill, and much of the season has been spent figuring out which six guys work best as a singles lineup, and which doubles pairs have chemistry.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had some tinkering the first five [series] of the season,\u201d junior Daniel Miller said. \u201cWe had to. We had guys gone, guys get sick.\u201d<\/p>\n

These are not so much excuses, as rather explanations for why the Colonels\u2019 record is the way it is. It\u2019s the story that \u201con paper\u201d does not tell. But paper can describe a situation, and the situation \u201con paper\u201d appears to be one of necessity.<\/p>\n

Of the three opponents left on the schedule, none have any impact on Centre\u2019s SAA record. They are essentially \u201ctune-ups\u201d for a daunting conference tournament where the Colonels will surely face a team they\u2019ve already lost to in the regular season. On paper, Centre Men\u2019s Tennis is struggling, but that doesn\u2019t mean they don\u2019t have a lot to play for.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re playing for conference and almost to redeem the first half of the season … There\u2019s definitely a pride element. We want to do well,\u201d Miller said, \u201cbut it\u2019s almost like we\u2019re playing with house money.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even though the Colonels have at least four series left to play, it\u2019s hard not to look ahead to next season. There\u2019s not a senior on the team. Next year, the current roster will return with the additions of Lawson, Williamson, and any recruits brought in by Coach Matt Vonderbrink.<\/p>\n

The sophomores and first-years, who have been constants in the lineup since the start of the season, will return with experience. Next season presents itself as somewhat of an opportunity; it\u2019s a chance to progress as a program.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been on an upward trend. We\u2019ve got first-years, sophomores, juniors that will be a year better. Two juniors, which is almost like getting two fantastic recruits, plus any recruits we do get,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n

With the talent returning, Miller said the Colonels aren\u2019t far from a top-three finish in conference. So yes, it\u2019s easy to envision what the 2015 season has in store, but the focus remains on finishing the last few series as strongly as possible.<\/p>\n

After all, Centre\u2019s record may be deceiving, but it does offer a chance to demonstrate growth. The underclassmen have grown up, the chemistry has developed, and lineups have been established.<\/p>\n

This group has come a long way since Feb. 15 at Bellarmine University, and this is their chance to prove it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere will be more to talk about. We\u2019ve got a chance to show what we can do on an even playing field. We\u2019re excited about the rest of the season, about what we\u2019ve got going forward,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n

The future of Men\u2019s Tennis presents opportunity. There are scores to settle, momentum to build, yet nothing to lose. Like Miller said, they\u2019re playing with house money. There might not be much to talk about now, but by the end of this season, there will be a chance to talk about improvement.<\/p>\n

At the beginning of next season, there will be a chance to talk about potential. At the end of that season, there will be a chance to talk about progression. That\u2019s the story 3-12 will not tell. On paper, Centre Men\u2019s Tennis is in a hole, but they won\u2019t be there for very long.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By CHARLIE GRIGSBY –\u00a0CENTO WRITER On paper, Centre Men\u2019s Tennis is having a tough year. With three series left in the season, their record sits at 3-12 (1-6 in conference). They\u2019ve won 19 of 56 singles and 11 of 34 doubles matches this year. They sit seventh in the SAA conference standings. This is their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":862,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=861"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}