Two weeks ago, the Gustavus Men’s Tennis team opened the fall season by taking home individual wins in the top two flights at the Drake University Invite in Des Moines. The Gusties did it again this past weekend when the team hosted the ITA Regional Championships. Led by Sophomore Mohaned Al-Houni, the Gusties appeared in both singles and doubles finals, and had two teammates face off in the individual semifinals.
“The highlight for the team in the fall season is preparing for the ITA’s. It is a very important tournament and everybody prepares for it to accomplish good results that will carry on to the spring season,” Al-Houni said.
Although the fall season is short, the ITA Regional Championships acts as a stepping stone for the spring season. It provides a base of where the team stand against the opponents in the midwest and offers tough competition, with over 200 participants participating in singles and doubles play.
With that said being, Al-Houni can’t put his finger on anything that he or his teammates need to improve before they go into spring season.
“I really like the depth of our team this year. There isn’t really a specific weakness, but as a team we’ve tried to build each other up and stay positive.
The guys are just very dedicated and hungry to do damage in the spring,” Al-Houni said.
Al-Houni has proven to be one to rely on for the team. During his first year at Gustavus, the left-handed Libyan only fell short to his brother Motasem as they battled it out during final of the 2014 ITA Regional Championships, also hosted at Gustavus.
This year, with the absence of his graduated elder brother, Al-Houni won the singles in an impressive fashion, defeating Coe College’s Brady Anderson 6-2, 6-2. Al-Houni provided another extraordinary performance in doubles where he partnered with Senior Andres Saenz, only to be defeated in dramatic fashion against UW-Whitewater.
“Mohaned [Al-Houni], as a tennis player, is very competitive and a great fighter. As a person, he is an awesome guy, full of happiness. As doubles partners I think we are completely different. He is the explosive guy and I am the calm guy. The way that we play is different as well.I love playing the whole time in the net and Mo loves staying back. Even though we are different, we work very well together as doubles partners. We are similar in that we love the game, and we also enjoy playing with each other,” Saenz said about his teammate.
“Mohaned [Al-Houni], as a tennis player, is very competitive and a great fighter. As a person, he is an awesome guy, full of happiness.”
—Andres Saenz
The couple have plenty of reasons to be convinced that they will do well together. Al-Houni will benefit from the mature background of Saenz while Saenz used to partner Al-Houni’s brother last year.
“I really enjoy playing with ‘Dre’. He taught me a lot about doubles and his experience helped us both to get a good run at the ITA’s. I can’t wait for the spring season so I can accomplish more things with him,” Al-Houni said.
Although Saenz will have to take a big role in his team’s success in the spring after losing ten graduating seniors last year, he is confident that the team is good enough to take home the MIAC in the spring.
“We are a close group of guys and that helps with our performance as a team. I think that’s why we do well throughout the whole season. I am really excited for spring, and I am looking forward to share my last season with the guys,” Saenz said.
For Sophomore Grahamm Kellogg, ambitions only mean one thing.
“We have 26 straight MIAC regular season championships. Win the MIAC regular season championship and win the MIAC tournament. Make it to the Elite 8. Our goals always stay the same,” Kellogg concluded.