Tennis teams begin spring action

The Blue Raider tennis team began the defense of this past year's Sun Belt championship last week, while the Lady Raider tennis team– coming off a successful fall season– will kick off spring action on Jan. 27.

The Blue Raider tennis team presents a picture of youth. With six freshmen and just one senior, the team's success in defending the 2011 conference title is highly dependent on a successful transition from the past year's roster to this one.

Coach Jimmy Borendame used the fall season to ease in four of the freshmen, while two more joined the team in January for the spring campaign.

"We got in a lot of matches," Borendame said of the fall season. "Worked on team chemistry, get the new guys acclimated to my style of coaching and the way we develop players, and I think we did that."

The team's biggest star is easily Ben Davis. The sophomore from London, England, took college tennis by storm, beginning a meteoric rise from an incoming freshman January 2011 to a national ranking to begin the fall season.

Davis posted a 19-5 dual match record this past spring and route to an All-Sun Belt recognition. He then entered the fall season ranked No. 115 among collegiate tennis players as determined by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.

Davis posted a 7-3 record in the fall, and along with freshman teammate Ettore Zito, played in the ITA Men's All-American Championships.

"A lot of people don't realize that Ben last year was a freshman that arrived in January," Borendame said. "This year the team voted him a captain… He's the one that's going to be yelling and pumping his fist whether he's down or whether he's up, and it motivates the whole team."

Davis had two occasions to play opponents who rank ahead of him in ITA's rankings. He defeated No. 77 Maniel Bains of Oklahoma State and fell to No. 55 Josh MacTaggart of Indiana.

Despite all the early success in college tennis, Davis said he finds it easy to maintain his intensity.

"Just because you have been successful in the past doesn't mean you are going to be successful in the future," Davis said. "You've got to step it up and step up training and step up your performances to repeat that success or get greater success next year."

Zito, Davis's partner at the All-American Championships, is himself a freshman star in the making. He posted an 8-4 singles record in the fall and won his flight in the team's final fall tournament.

With the focus on Davis, Zito and the rest of the young cast, it may be easy to overlook the leadership of senior Matthew Langley, who played a major part in the 2011 conference championship.

Langley's leadership is but another factor in what seems to be a talented and deep squad.

The Lady Raider tennis team is coming off what first-year coach Shelley Godwin has said to be one of the most successful fall campaigns in program history.

The team had finalists in every tournament and won flights in both singles and doubles competition.

"We have eight girls that can play in our lineup at any time, and that provides good competition in practice, which then translates into our matches," Godwin said.

The Lady Raiders feature four seniors on the roster and one freshman. Also a newcomer in the fall was Flavia Nagayama, a sophomore from Brazil who transferred from Jacksonville.

Nagayama won her flight in her first tournament as a Lady Raider and was paired later in the season with junior Yuiri Nomoto in doubles action. There they found success in two tournaments, defeating one set of opponents 8-0, and winning a flight in another tournament.

Nagayama's fellow Brazilian, freshman Nayara Moraes, also had an instant impact, winning her first five singles matches. She then paired with senior Carla Nava to win a doubles flight with a victory over an Auburn squad.

"They came right in and they jumped on board," Godwin said of her new teammates. "They compete so hard, and that equals wins. They will outfight people no matter what it takes."

While the success of the newest Lady Raiders is a reassuring sign of depth and a promising future for the team, the squad's bread and butter still comes from the veterans.

MT's final tournament featured six singles finalists, and of the three who emerged victorious, two were seniors, Taylor Coffey and Alex Dachos, while Lexi Brand, a junior, also crafted a win.

With a tough schedule featuring the first seven matches on the road, having a group with an understanding of college tennis may not be a bad thing.