With only one meet so far, the Men’s Tennis team is looking forward to the remainder of its season. Coming up for the men: the Midwest Fall Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s regional tournament right here at Gustavus.
At the Drake Invitational September 18,2009 in Des Moines, IA the men played well. They went 6-5 in the doubles round and 4-7 in the singles.
One doubles team made a great first impression for the season. First-year Tyler Johnson and Washington transfer student, Sophomore Amrik Donkena reached the semifinals along with Sophomore Patrick Clark and another First-Year Niko Karnop. While the team has only competed in one invitational this season, they still want to work hard for this weekend’s event.
Donkena expressed his goal for the rest of the season. “As far as the Midwest Regional tournament, my goal is to play my hardest and focus on trying to win one match at a time,” Donkena said, “and hopefully the results reflect how hard our team has been working this fall.”
Among the sought-after first-years are Johnson and Karnop, who also competed in the singles competition as well.
Notable performers from theDrake Invitational included Senior Kyle Olson and Sophomore Dan Pomeranc who spent the summer training in Brazil.
Coach Tommy Valentini looks forward to this weekend’s tournament, with a unique method of play.
“As long as we execute the three crowns we, will have success,” Valentini said.
The three crowns refers to the way the Men’s team approaches each match. The three pieces are giving a full effort, having a positive attitude and playing with the highest level of sportsmanship. Valentini hopes using the three crowns will help them progress as far as they can, and that will provide them with success.
For many team members, experience right now is the most important piece of the fall season.
“We have a young and new team,” Valentini said, “and experiencing matches will make us better in all facets.”
Tough competition this weekend will be Kenyon, Grinnell and Luther Colleges. “[We’d like to beat] all of them,” Valentini said. However, Drake was one of the top teams in their invitational, but Gustavus hopes to come out on top this time. Although the wins are not about what court you play on, it would be nice to consider a home-court advantage.
“We love to host the tournament,” Valentini said, “but there is no competitive advantage. We love for the players’ families to come and watch.”
Although this is the final competition for those that do not win the singles or doubles tournament this weekend, the men will continue to push themselves this winter. Even though Valentini cannot coach in the off-season, he knows the men will play as much as they can to improve for the spring season.