‘Optimism’ is Word of Season for Men’s and Women’s Tennis

By Jena Lytle 

The Emory & Henry men’s and women’s spring tennis season has begun and coach James Barker, returning for his 13^th season, has an optimistic outlook for his teams.

            Both men and women finished well in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference last season, but the coach is pushing for more wins this time around. The ODAC record for the men was 4-5 and the women’s was 4-6.

            This season the men’s team has senior captain Ben Blevins and senior co-captain Kelly McCall leading the group. Robert Pierce is a second-year assistant coach. “I am sure this last season will be one of their best,” Pierce said. Freshman Chip Wintringham partners with Blevins on the doubles court and looks forward to the season. “I’m excited about the potential to be a top tier team in the ODAC,” Wintringham said.

            The women’s team will be a little less about experience and more about experiments this season as two of the returning players were lost due to schedule conflicts. “Balancing time is difficult in college, and in some cases it just becomes overwhelming,” Barker said, “I understand academics are top priority, but I’m disappointed in the loss for the team.”

            Despite the loss, Barker and Pierce are optimistic for the lady wasps, believing there is definitely talent in returning players and great potential in the additions. “The advantage of having such a young team is that the freshmen and sophomores seem to be eager to work and improve, which will make this an enjoyable challenge,” Barker said.

            Both teams will be traveling to Hilton Head, S.C., over spring break, which will bring good competition and experience for the players. Last year the teams traveled to Orlando, Fla., where they were confronted with more accomplished teams that made the experience more overwhelming than enjoyable. This year, however, coach Barker feels that “both teams have a good chance at beating their opponents, compared to last spring break, which was just discouraging.”

            The men’s team has their first match this Sunday against Washington and Lee, who is always an aggressive but fun opponent for both players and crowds. The women will play their first match on the road Saturday, Feb. 21, at Randolph Macon. Both teams are prepared and have a confident anticipation about their season. Although the preseason rankings are not out at this time, the teams have their hearts set on being in the top half of the conference.

Filed Under: Campus News • News • Sports