With the Tennis season in its beginning stages, the University of Memphis men’s’ and women’s’ tennis teams have both gotten off to a good start. The men moved to 2-0 following a 6-1 win against LSU on Sunday, and the women edged UAB 4-3 Jan.20.
           Hayden Perez, coach of the women’s team, was impressed with the women’s win against the Blazers and rated their performance with an “A.â€
           “We played with great effort,†he said. “We really showed some promise.â€
Marta Morga stares down the ball as she gears up for the backhand volley. Morga is one of two seniors on the women’s team.
           Going into the remainder of the season, Perez has set goals for his team to achieve.
           “The main goal of ours is to win our conference championship. That’s the big goal we set out for every season,†he said. “We also would like to make an appearance in the national rankings. We would like to just continue to grow and improve as the season goes on.â€
Hanna Sohn stays on her toes and winds up to hit a forehand. Sohn previously played at the University of Arizona before coming to Memphis.
           The women’s team features three freshmen to go along with four upperclassmen. Clara Kuehn as well as Josephine and Katherine Cao are freshman. Perez says he has not noticed any “freshmen jitters†and believes his newcomers will improve as the season continues.
            “As our season continues, I think their confidence will grow. Our upperclassman have really taken them under their wing and helped in a big way,†Perez said. “It also helps that two of our three freshmen (Josephine and Katherine) are twins. They obviously know each other well and have already developed a comfort level.â€
           The men’s team features two highly ranked players. Junior Ryan Peniston is currently ranked 35in the country after going 9-4 in singles play in the fall. Junior Andrew Watson is currently ranked 111 in the country going 8-5 in singles.
           Men’s coach Paul Goebel also has high praises for his team going into this season. He described his group as a bunch who played with high effort and intensity.
Kai Lemke readies his feet as he prepares to return a serve. The junior helped his team to an NCAA tournament appearance a year ago.
           “You’re always hoping to come out strong in the beginning of the season,†Goebel said. “Teams usually start the season playing against weaker teams, but we had a challenge from the start. Michigan St and LSU are both great team so we knew we had our work cut out for us. I’m pleased with how we’ve played so far.â€
           Goebel’s squad is a young group with no seniors, but they are returning all but one player form season. Building off an NCAA tournament appearance last year, he feels his team has high confidence going into this season.
           “Making the tournament last year really gave them a boost of confidence,†he said. “They know what to expect now and believe they can do it again.â€
           Goebel feels his team can make a strong run in the tournament again.
           “Our primary goal is to win the conference title and make the tournament,†he said. “We feel like we can build off what we accomplished last year and advance further in the tournament this year.â€
Andrew Watson is one of the leaders of the men’s team as one of the four upperclassmen. He is currently ranked as the No. 111 player in men’s tennis.Â
