Jacob Jardel
Staff Editor
Cameron’s tennis teams were in full swing against Southeastern Oklahoma State University on April 8 at the Streich-Henry Tennis Complex.
Both teams braved the Savage Storm as the women claimed a decisive 8-1 victory while the men’s team came out on top 6-3.
Colby Meeks, assistant coach for the women’s team, stated both he and his team were feeling good about their play heading into this match and the tail end of their season.
“We’re coming into this match pretty confident,” Meeks said. “We’ve had a pretty good season overall.”
Meeks said his team’s point of focus heading into this match was the doubles portion, particularly how hard his team took to the court.
“Singles is nothing new to our team,” he said, “but as far as doubles, we’re trying to really implement the aggressiveness and take it to the other teams.”
That aggressiveness showed when the Black and Gold claimed two of three doubles matches from Southeastern.
Paula Gutierrez-Casas and Florencia Tornero won their match 8-3, as did the pair of Magdalena Kovinic and Antonia Moberg. Angie Torres and Samantha Wood took the Aggies’ only loss.
The women’s team came out even more aggressive in the singles competition, sweeping the six-match set.
Laura Roberts (6-1, 6-3) joined Torres (6-1, 6-0), Gutierrez-Casas (6-1, 6-2), Wood (6-0, 6-0), Tornero (6-4, 6-2) and Kovinic (6-1, 6-1) to help claim the straight-sets victories against Southeastern.
Victories were what Meeks said was the main goal.
“Obviously, we’re out for wins,” he said. “Every match from here on out is important as we’re probably around the number four spot in the region right now.”
The men’s side was also looking to maintain its position near the top of the region. Assistant coach Mario Urban emphasized how vital wins were for this goal to come to fruition.
“It’s important for us to win today to maintain our position at one or two in the region,” Urban said. “It’s crucial for us, especially after two losses last week, that we bounce back.”
Urban also stressed the importance of team tennis in the rebounding process.
“For us, our goal in every match is to go out and win doubles,” Urban said. “We normally go down 1-2 or 0-3, and we have to fight back to win four or five singles. It’s pretty tough. If we’d just be able to win two or three doubles, we’d be in good position to win all our matches.”
The Aggie men completed that goal, taking two of three matches from the Storm. Despite a loss from Angelo Lencioni and Dean Weigelt, the men were able to win both doubles matches with an 8-3 win from Rory de Boer/Felipe Oyarzun and an 8-6 victory from Dennis Merdan/Joao Fazendeiro.
The Black and Gold took that momentum from doubles and used it to win four of the six singles matches to come out on top 6-3.
Despite losses from de Boer and Fazendeiro, the men’s team came out roaring to weather the Savage Storm in singles. Merdan (3-6, 6-3, 6-3) and Oyarzun (6-7, 6-3, 6-4) claimed three-set wins in singles while Lencioni (6-0, 6-2) and Weigelt (6-4, 6-1) won their matches in straight sets.
Wins such as this were what Urban was emphasizing when he talked about maintaining the team’s position in the region. He also noted that he felt confident heading into this match that his team was one to beat.
“We’re in a position to win all our matches we have left,” Urban said. “We can win six, but it depends on the guys. If they perform well, play their tennis and keep doing what they’re doing, we’re not going to lose any matches.”