Members of the men’s tennis team competed in the Wilson/ITA Mideast Regional Championship in Chapel Hill over the weekend. The tournament, which began Thursday, continues throughout the week and will conclude Oct. 20. The ITA is an indoor tournament and is considered home away from home for the Wolfpack, according to Choboy.

“They are familiar courts for us,” Choboy said. “We’ve had some pretty big matches on these courts against Carolina so we feel some home court advantage, especially against some of the other teams besides Carolina and Duke.”

Because the tournament is held in Chapel Hill, the players get to sleep in their own beds and go home at night. It is not all that luxurious according to Weinacker who said he and his teammates still have busy days.

“[On a usual] day in this tournament, I have to be at the tennis courts by 7:15a.m.to hit with Chris Welte,” Weinacker said. “We grab some breakfast and have to be in Chapel Hill at 8:30a.m, to get ready and play our matches of the day.”

The fall season is made up mostly of individual tournaments like the ITA. During the fall, the team focuses on conditioning and has early morning practices – functions collegiate student-athletes aren’t exactly thrilled over.

“I’m always ready to get out of the fall because that’s when we have to do all our dirty work,” Weinacker said.

But according to coach Jon Choboy, the autumn “dirty work” during the fall is very necessary for the team, because it is when the Wolfpack can tweak itself in preparation for the regular season.

“We have been doing lots of work in doubles in the last couple of weeks to get ready for this tournament,” Choboy said. “We have had good results, working on the individuals.”

With a busy schedule on the court, tournaments like the ITA require a lot of consistent mental focus, which isn’t always easy according to senior Jay Weinacker.

“It’s really tough because the matches are so personal,” Weinacker said. “You have to focus throughout the match and as soon as it’s over you have to leave it behind you — win or lose — then get mentally geared up for the next one. It’s exhausting when you play three matches in one day.”

Weinacker’s doubles partner, senior Chris Welte, feels the mental stress as well. He just got back from the All-American Championship in Tulsa, Okla.

“It has been pretty stressful mentally, because I just got back from Tulsa on Thursday, and I’ve been swamped with work, so it was really tough to get mentally prepared [for this tournament.]”

Being a student-athlete is very difficult and stressful according to Welte, especially during the fall season with a huge class workload.

“I was in Tulsa for a week, and when you miss a week of school, it’s very tough to catch up,” Welte said. “You just got to do it the best you can, try to stay healthy, eat well and stay physically fit so you can endure everything you have to do.”

One of the ways to deal with the mental stress for Weinacker is his pre-match superstitions.

“I usually like to eat at the same places for dinner or breakfast when I’m on a winning streak,” Weinacker said. “Sometimes I’ll even wear the same outfits; wear it, wash it and wear it again.”

Yet, all don’t feel the same way; Welte said superstitions are juvenile — it’s only what happens on the court that matters.

“The game isn’t about superstitions,” Welte said. “It’s really about how you prepare, how you practice, and the rest will take care of itself.”

The expectations are high for this tournament, according to Welte. The results of this weekend will determine who goes to the National Indoor Tournament in a few weeks.

“I’m trying to stay on top of things and stay aggressive [throughout the end of the tournament],” Welte said. “Playing indoors lets me stay aggressive with my serve.”

As the fall tournament season starts to wind down, Choboy said there is still a fair bit of work to do before the regular season starts in January.

“A few of the guys are still in competition for the line-up,” Choboy said. “We need to sort out the doubles teams as well. There have been a lot of performances this weekend, and we have a lot of work to do [to get ready for the spring.]”