The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s tennis team has won seven matches in a row and was undefeated in February.
But this is March, and it isn’t blowing in easily for the 8-1 Mocs.
Both UTC teams host Elon in Southern Conference matches at the Champions Club, beginning at 1 p.m. It’s the conference opener for Carlos Garcia’s Mocs; Jeff Clark’s Lady Mocs are 4-4 overall, 0-1 in the league after losing 7-0 last Saturday at Davidson.
There is no admission charge.
The Elon men beat UTC 6-0 and 4-0 last year, the second time in the semifinals of the conference tournament.
“We play Tennessee and Georgia in marquee nonconference matches later in the spring, and I put Elon in that group,” Garcia said Friday. “They have achieved the highest ranking of any Southern Conference team I can remember — as high as 51 — and they’ve maintained that.”
Elon (5-3, 0-0) has lost to No. 16 Duke, No. 43 Old Dominion and No. 60 South Carolina and edged No. 71 Princeton. UTC’s opposition has not been of that stature, but Garcia acknowledged that his Mocs have developed some confidence with their win streak.
“I do feel confident we can put ourselves in position to win,” he said. “If we take advantage of some opportunities, we may be able to overachieve a little bit and do something special.”
The Mocs were supposed to play their first 2008 outdoor match earlier this week, but weather prevented that at Jacksonville State.
“We’re a little behind because of the weather, but hopefully most teams are a little behind,” Garcia said. “And this may be a good time to play Elon, before they settle in. There are some pluses to playing them now, and I hope that translates into something positive for my team.”
He’s playing seniors Badr Bouabdellah and Razvan Axente at Nos. 1 and 2 singles and juniors Peter Sauska and Pavel Vostrikov at 3 and 4. Sauska is 8-0, including one match at No. 2, and Vostrikov has lost only once after serving as the No. 7 man last year.
“He made three jumps,” Garcia said, “and Peter’s had an exceptional career the year and a half he’s been here. Actually, my top four are pretty even. It’s a little difficult to put them 1, 2, 3, 4 — I look at that as a plus.”
But two freshmen complete the singles lineup and a third will play doubles today, which is another plus for the future but likely will mean some tightness today.
“I’m sure the top four will be nervous too,” Garcia said. “But we’re ready. We’re ready to play outside. We’re ready to play conference matches. We upped our conditioning a little bit, and we’ve been practicing twice a day.”
Clark’s Lady Mocs also blend experience at the top with youth at the bottom.
Lindsey Ballard at No. 1, he said, is as good as any player he had in his previous stint as UTC coach. She’s 6-2 “playing against great players every match,” and fellow senior Bonnie Adams at No. 2 and junior Beata Knizat at No. 3 also “have worked very hard so far this season,” Clark said.
Freshmen Annie Green and Arianna Sanjines each has four singles wins, and Grace Robinette has also been solid as a freshman but was hampered by an injury.
“Grace played on two state-championship teams at GPS, and Sanjines also played in some big team matches at Baylor,” Clark noted. “And Annie is a player with a lot of potential as well. We’ve had to rely on those freshmen.”
Elon (6-4) lost to North Carolina, North Carolina State, Virginia Tech and East Carolina and most recently beat Charlotte 5-2.
“They beat the Lady Mocs last year 4-3, so I know it’s going to be a tough match,” Clark said. “Davidson is a top-three team in the Southern Conference, but we weren’t at 100 percent last week. I think we’ll give a better showing this time.”
