In the wake of a 7-0 sweep of No. 64 Pennsylvania on Sunday, the men’s tennis team (6-0) will look to remain undefeated as it hosts East Carolina (3-3) at 1 p.m. and UNC Greensboro (2-2) at 5:30 p.m. today.
Coach Jon Choboy said he was not surprised the Pack handled a talented Penn team on Sunday, yet he hopes the team will carry that energy into today’s matches at the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center.
“Our guys have been practicing really well and looking for a good challenge,” Choboy said. “And we came out ready to play and jumped on them. Obviously, we’ll play better teams down the road, but I think it was more a matter of us playing well than the other team [Penn] not being a good team.”
According to junior Ben Zink, the team will look to build off its momentum from Sunday’s outing, particularly in doubles play. Zink and his doubles partner, junior Nick Cavaday, hold a 5-0 doubles record on the season.
“[We’re] just taking the momentum from yesterday,” Zink said. “We played well [as a] full team. We did well; we kept our consistency; we played with our heart. I’m just going to take that into tomorrow — just take the confidence from winning doubles yesterday and keep it going.”
The Wolfpack will host multiple teams in one day for the third time this season. According to Zink, the team is not concerned with fatigue or conditioning going into the doubleheader.
“We practice enough that it shouldn’t be tiring,” Zink said. “I actually enjoy playing a lot of matches in one day.”
Senior Andre Iriarte, who is 6-0 in singles matches this season, said he looks forward to implementing team practices into match play.
“I’m looking forward to staying strong and to work[ing] on the things we’re working on in practice here and keep doing the best we can,” Iriarte said.
Choboy said in today’s matches he would like to see his team keep up the intensity and enthusiasm it has shown so far this season.
“I would like the guys to come out tomorrow and maintain that energy and that focus and just treat these matches as another preparation for getting where we want to go this season,” Choboy said. “Really coming out and putting up a nice performance tomorrow as far as energy, good decision making, good effort, good attitude — those are the types of things we want to be able to do tomorrow.”
