The University of Indianapolis men’s and women’s tennis teams recently competed against Lewis University on Saturday, April 9, and the University of Illinois Springfield on Friday, April 8. The men won both matches, while the women fell to Lewis.
Lewis beat the women 5-1, with the only win of the day coming from doubles partner junior Selenay Heper and sophomore Paige Olsen. The two swept their Flyers opponent 8-0.
“We have all been working really hard as a team on our strategies and things like work shots, shoulder shots, and sticking our basics,” Olsen said.
Against Illinois Springfield, the women swept their Great Lakes Valley Conference opponent 5-0. The Hounds earned wins in all three doubles matches and needed just two wins in the singles competition to win the match. Winning in the singles competition was sophomore Florence Renard and freshman Hanna Volikova.
The men earned wins in both matches and topped No. 39 Lewis in the process. UIndy beat the Flyers 6-2, with the only two losses coming in the doubles competition as junior Arklon Huertas del Pino and sophomore Andrea Morlet matched up to take on their Flyers opponents. The duo fell 9-7 to the Flyers. Later, in singles competition, Lewis’s No. 40 junior Mate Srdanovic faced off against UIndy’s No. 24 Huertas Del Pino and won 6-3, 3-6, 7-5.
Prior to the match against Lewis, UIndy swept Illinois Springfield 5-0. UIndy earned three wins in the doubles competition. To finish the match, senior Luke Hubert and Huertas del Pino topped their opponents in two sets to secure a Greyhound win.
Despite the win, Huertas del Pino still sees room for improvement.
“I stayed playing well from the fall and mostly improved physically, I feel like I’m in a lot better shape and do not get tired as easily during matches,” Huertas del Pino said. “… I need to work more offensively and play a lot deeper and higher when my opponent tries to overpower so I can regain control of the match.”
The men’s and women’s teams also competed in the fall, and Head Tennis Coach Malik Tabet has enjoyed seeing the team grow as a whole.
“The kids had a very good fall training season, and one of the biggest things is the atmosphere they have created. They play for each other, and that is really fun to see,” Tabet said.
With three regular season matches left for each team, Tabet has a few goals for the team before heading into postseason play.
“We have worked a lot on discipline and shot selection. I think we need to attack more and finish more points at the net and just become more comfortable at the net,” Tabet said.
The men’s and women’s next competition will be against Bellarmine University on April 16 and is set to begin at 1 p.m.
