A rare sunny day was a welcome change for the SMU men’s tennis team Tuesday as it enjoyed a late-afternoon practice at the courts on Airline Road.
“It’s a beautiful day,” head coach Carl Neufeld said as he fed volleys to newcomer Robin Fahgen and veteran Olivind Alver. Neufeld mixed jokes with advice as his players took turns working on aggressively approaching the net.
The men are 1-2 for the season, having met two of their toughest opponents already. SMU fell to No. 12 Texas and No. 23 Clemson earlier this month after opening the 2007 season with a 6-1 win over Lamar.
Neufeld is “excited about what the team is doing” this year and is looking forward to watching his young team progress even more. With only one senior on the roster, the team has time to grow.
Returning to the roster are senior Federico Murgier, junior Alex Skrypko, junior Olivind Alver, junior David Kuczer and junior Adolfo Solares. Skrypko, who has assumed the No. 1 spot this year, is set to be the Mustangs’ biggest asset.
“I think he’s the best player I’ve ever coached,” Neufeld said. “His game has really progressed and he’s developed into an exceptional tennis player.”
While he’s still at the top of the roster, Skrypko isn’t at his best. According to Neufeld, Skrypko is serving at only 30-40 percent of his usual ability due to a nagging injury. The injury, however, didn’t keep Skrypko from defeating No. 46 Clement Reix of Clemson.
The coach hopes to have his team in peak physical condition by April when the team will compete in the Conference USA championships. Last year, the Mustangs were the No. 2 seed, but they fell to No. 3 seeded Tulsa in the quarterfinals. The ponies then received a bid to the NCAA tournament where they lost to host team Louisville in the opening round.
New additions to the lineup could help SMU reach its goal of a 2007 C-USA championship title. Red-shirt freshman Chris Hooshyar played at the No. 4 or No. 5 spot in SMU’s opening contests, winning his match against Lamar. True freshman Robin Faghen of Sweden has occupied the No. 6 singles spot for the Mustangs in the last three matches in addition to teaming up with Alver to play doubles.
“Robin is a hardworker and a talented athlete, he’s helping out a lot at No. 6,” Neufeld said. “He’s got a lot of potential.” Faghen’s aggressive style of play will no doubt pay off when the Mustangs face big competition later in the season.
“We have our toughest schedule ever [this season]. We started out with tough teams,” Neufeld said. Starting out playing two Top 25 teams is not easy, but Neufeld hopes it will only prepare his team for the season ahead. The team seems hungry too: as Neufeld called for the end of drills, players begged for just “one more” feed.
The SMU men’s tennis team takes on both Illinois State and Southeastern Oklahoma State in a double-header on Saturday. The matches will be held at the Bent Tree Country Club starting at 1 p.m.
