The University of Indianapolis men’s and women’s tennis teams look to end the season on a high after a 16-2 record for the men and a 14-5 record for the women, according to UIndy Athletics. Men’s tennis senior Tom Zeuch said that he is happy with the team this season, especially because of the tremendous amount of hard work that they have put into the season.
“Coming in after the fall, I felt like we had the talent,” Zeuch said. “It was up to us whether or not we wanted to push a little bit more to beat these good teams we have in Division II. I’m very happy that everybody came in with great energy and that we [have] used our potential with hard work to establish a good tennis team.”
According to Zeuch, defeating Barry University from Miami, FL, 4-0 on UIndy’s home court was a confidence booster. He said that it showed that UIndy has a special tennis team and that they can make something happen this year in the NCAA tournament. With the conference tournament coming up, Zeuch said that everybody will expect the team to win the tournament.
“It’s up to us to prove that we are such a good team,” Zeuch said. “And I’m pretty sure that we will win the conference going into the NCAA [tournament]…. Knowing that we just beat our conference going into the tournament, we have lots of confidence and [will] show the United States how good we are and what we can do.”
According to Zeuch, the joy of giving it all in really competitive, rowdy practices makes the transition easier when it comes to official matches. Zeuch said that he loves how the team is being so competitive during practices because they are not just going through the motions but are able to perform naturally when the official matches are played.
Women’s tennis sophomore Lea Cakarevich said that there were four foreign newcomers in January that came into the program with a limited ability to converse in English. Kakarevich said that this was difficult at first, but now since the team has played a lot of matches together, they are like a family now.
“We just started playing outside, so we’re practicing more for the outside style,” Kakarevich said. “We’re doing a few drills that the coach is finding for us and are [playing] a lot of matches, points, serves and doubles as well…. We have to get used to the conditions.”
According to Cakarevich, the UIndy tennis team went on spring break together in Orlando, FL to play some of the best teams in the nation on outdoor courts. Cakarevich said that it was a good experience to get some matches outside, to play two teams in Tampa, and to bond as a team by spending lots of time together.
“Everything’s about confidence and trusting each other,” Cakarevich said. “That’s what was missing at the beginning. That’s why creating those bonding’s [is important]…. Confidence is the key to everything…. We have fought even more for each other and that is really motivating.”
