The No. 15-ranked OU Men’s tennis team responded after losing to No. 23 Mississippi by defeating Michigan State in the following match at the ITA Kick-off Weekend Classic at the Goodfriend Tennis Center in Knoxville, Tenn. last weekend.
Even though Coach John Roddick knows his squad could have played better, he is glad his team is experienced enough to respond well to adversity early in the year.
“Not getting through is not the end of the world,” Roddick said. “We also understand that this early in the year we’ve had these tendencies to have tough matches early, and we’ve always responded and improved.”
Freshman Dane Webb acknowledge that they had some missed opportunities in both the singles and doubles matches.
“If we close out matches a little better, then we should be good” Webb said.
Junior Costin Paval, who is the no. 4-ranked player in the nation, knows the team will improve as they play more matches.
In fact, the junior said he is glad the team is facing adversity early in the season. That way, the Sooners will be able to handle that same adversity later in the year when it matters.
“We had a tough first match, but we can only go up from here,” Paval said. “We had a tough first match, but early adversity can be a good thing.”
The team’s next match will be against Nebraska at 1p.m. Saturday at the Gregg Wadley Tennis Pavilion in Norman. Nebraska has made the NCAA tournament the past two years and has the no. 7-ranked doubles team in the nation.
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