Tennis Holds Their Own Against Tough Competition

Thursday, October 29, 2009 11:22 PM

COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The Prairie View A&M men's tennis team continued their preparation for the upcoming season with a strong showing in the annual Intercollegiate Tennis Association South Central Regional Championships this past weekend on the campus of Texas A&M University.

The ITA serves as the governing body of collegiate tennis in the United States whose goal is to improve the level of intercollegiate tennis competition and the quality of college tennis coaching.  More than 5,000 men's and women's collegiate tennis players participate each year in a total of 80 regional events (17 for Division I and 63 for small colleges), which are hosted across the country each fall from late September through mid-November.  This year, a total of 12 sites across the nation were used as host sites with Texas A&M University representing the Texas region.  In the regional, Prairie View's men competed against tennis powers such as the University of Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Rice, Baylor, SMU, Texas Christian (TCU), etc.

 "The overall play was really good," said head men's and women's tennis coach John Cochran.  "We started out really slow on the first day as I think nerves overtook some of my freshmen while the veteran players seemed to handle themselves pretty well.  Being on that stage against players from schools with a high tennis caliber overwhelmed them (freshmen) early on."

Sophomore Kudakwashe "Kuda" Nyatoti and freshman Craig Wiltz had the best performances of the event as both posted wins in individual play.  Nyatoti, a native Mutare, Zimbabwe, dropped his opening match but bounced back and defeated Texas-Pan American's Abdelhamid Riani 6-2, 6-3 in the consolation bracket.  Nyatoti ultimately fell in the quarterfinal round of consolation play to UTPA's Beau Bernstein 6-1, 6-2 to close out the match.

"Kuda played well in the win as once he realized the player from UTPA didn't have enough weapons to beat him, he slowly took him out," stated Cochran.  "He advanced to play the teammate of the guy he just beat in the next round and had to deal with a strong wind throughout the match.  Overall, Kuda had a good tournament and he'll move forward to prepare himself for the regular season."

Wiltz opened the match with a 6-3, 6-4 loss to TCU's Santiago Centeno in the opening round of 128.  The Lafayette, La. native regrouped from the hard-fought loss and knocked off fellow teammate Jimmy Yates 6-2, 6-1 which advanced him to the third round of consolation play.  In the third round, Wiltz continued to roll as he defeated Texas Tech's Jared Hope 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) to earn a quarterfinal berth in singles consolation.  Unfortunately, Wiltz's impressive ride came to an end early as he dropped a 6-1, 6-2 decision to David Gonzalez of Texas Tech.

"Craig stepped up as he lost a hard-fought first match but bounced back and managed to defeat a player from Texas Tech in consolation play," said Cochran.  "He played solid in the win over Tech as he never gave up on himself and pushed through." 

In doubles play, the tandem of Nyatoti and Yates gave a strong effort as the duo fell 9-7 to UTPA's Marcus Dornauf and Riani.  Several other Panthers such as Airron Williams, Jose Garcia, Caz Tankersley, Lucien Fluty, Kris Powell and Wiltz also participated in doubles play and walked away with some much-needed experience.

"Jimmy and Kuda were serving for match point in their match but I think nerves got to Jimmy a little as he rushed some things which allowed UTPA to tie the match up and get the win," said Cochran.  "The other doubles team played pretty well but a few errors here and there did them in.  Again, a lot of them were freshmen and they're trying to play through their nerves."

Prior to the ITA meet, both the Panthers and Lady Panthers participated in the annual HBCU National Tennis Championships in Atlanta, Ga. the weekend of Sept. 26.  The Panthers finished the prestigious event tied for fifth overall while the women concluded the event in an eighth-place tie.

During singles play, Wiltz and sophomore Chris Jordan had strong outings as both advanced to the quarterfinal rounds of their respective flights.  In men's doubles, Wiltz and Powell advanced all the way to the semifinal round of the Flight B doubles before falling short 9-7 to Alcorn State.

"Craig and Chris stepped up in singles while in doubles, we played ok but not as well as I would've liked," stated Cochran.

On the women's side, Prairie View's doubles tandem of Munashe Makuni and Lerato Ndlovu advanced to the doubles "A" quarterfinals before falling short to Bethune-Cookman University.  The doubles team of Melissa Guerrier and Alejandra Barrera also made it to the quarterfinals as they fell to Hampton by a margin of 8-3.

In singles play, Makuni made it to the round of 16 in the "A" bracket before falling short to Alicia Izomor of Florida A&M 6-1, 3-6, 10-6.  Barrera also advanced to the round of 16 in the "B" bracket as she dropped a 6-0, 6-3 decision to Stacey Lopez of Bethune-Cookman.

"For the ladies, the tournament provided them with an opportunity to gain much-needed experience for the upcoming year," said Cochran.

With their fall season coming to an end, Cochran will now turn his focus to the spring campaign.  On the men's side, the Panthers experienced hard times last year as they missed postseason play while the women's team fell short in the first round of the SWAC Tournament.  As a result, Cochran spent a considerable amount of time in the offseason addressing areas that hindered him last spring.

"We were a little short on talent last year as we had a player leave us in midseason on the men's side which created a big void," he said.  "I made sure to avoid that problem again as I recruited seven newcomers for the men's squad where if someone goes down, I can replace them without missing much of a beat.  Getting to the SWAC Tournament won't be a problem as there are only three schools in the division who have men's teams this year so we can now focus solely on seeding.  Earning the top seed is important to me now as it allows you to receive a bye in the conference tourney and gives you a chance to come out fresh.

"Also, we have to stay fit from this point because once the fall break approaches, members of both teams will be on their own for a short period of time," added Cochran.  "I expect everyone to come back ready to play as I'm expecting nothing short of a championship."