Tennis is a sport with individual scores, winners and losers. Tennis fits into a different category than soccer and other team sports.
Tennis athletes play on different courts, sometimes at different times. Normally, sports like tennis or golf have difficulty coming together as a team because of the individual aspect.
Yet, N.C. State’s club tennis team has a different idea in mind. Members of the club have connected with each other on the road during away matches, which is something that sets this club apart from others who just come together and play, according to club president Justin Fowler, a senior in mathematics.
“We really bonded,” club officer Lauren Held, a junior in microbiology and biotechnology, said. “Going on trips really helps us become friends and not just teammates.”
Only eight members play in each match. Club tennis is set up differently than other tennis matches because the league is co-ed. There are men’s and women’s singles, women’s doubles, men’s doubles and a mixed doubles team. The scores for the match come from the total number of games played.
Fall Brawl, a tournament held last month at UNC-Charlotte, is where the individual members erased the dividing lines and truly became a team, club members said.
“Traveling to Charlotte was a great experience. During my final match against UGA, everyone on the team was on the side cheering,” Jackie Ussery, freshman in psychology, said. “Everyone on the team is so encouraging. It makes tennis feel more like a team sport.”
The club tennis team played its first match of the season Sept. 22 at Wake Forest. The team suffered a close loss, falling 8-6. Yet, the loss helped the team come together for its next match, according to Held.
On Sept. 29-30, the team was on the road again for Fall Brawl, its fall tournament. Fall Brawl had 16 teams from 13 schools from around the Southeast compete. State won the tournament, beating Methodist and UNC-C in the first two rounds.
“We went beyond expectations,” Brent Mills, a sophomore in First Year College, said. “We’re better than we think, since we beat some really strong teams.”
In the semifinals the Pack went up against rival North Carolina. State came out on top, defeating the Tar Heels.
“The first couple rounds were nerve racking,” Tyler Beck, a junior in accounting, said.”We ended up beating Carolina in the semifinals. Let’s just say we put Carolina in their place.”
The final round came down to State and Georgia. It was a close match, according to Ussery, but the Wolfpack pulled out the win in the match, taking first place in the tournament.
This past weekend, State secured another win, shutting out UNC-Wilmington, 18-0.
“We’re doing really well this year, we had a lot of people come back who were here last year, and they are all pretty good,” Fowler said. “We’ve had a lot of new people come out and surprise me with how good they are. We’re definitely stronger than last year.”
The club team practices three times a week on the Carmichael Complex’s tennis courts. Since only four men and four women are able to play a challenge ladder is in place so only the top players compete. Ladder matches are sometimes played during practices.
“Winning [Fall Brawl] we have a good chance at winning nationals, which is really exciting,” Held said.
The team will play next at Duke on Oct. 27, continuing to strengthen their bond, as well as their record, Held said.
