Xavier University Athletics
Saturday, January 14
East Lansing, Mich.
3 p.m.
Xavier University
at
Michigan State
Men’s Tennis Set to Begin 2016 Spring Season Against Michigan State This Weekend
01.12.17 | Men's Tennis
Cincinnati, OH - Xavier men's tennis will be back in action this weekend to open the 2017 spring season against Michigan State in East Lancing, Mich.
The Musketeers finished their fall 2016 season with a record of 36-40 in singles play and 30-30 in doubles play. This Saturday, the Musketeers open the season vs. Michigan State of the Big Ten.
Head Coach Doug Matthews has high expectations for the team coming into this season. "I think whenever you only have six practices before your first match, it's really important for our guys to take advantage of the break," said Matthews. "I think our guys did that. Most of our guys coming back are hitting the ball really well and look like they're in really good shape. We're always focused on competing at a high level every day, and have been doing that so far in the weight room also. We're looking forward to getting started this weekend."
Matthews refers to seniors Matt Bishop and Jeremy Schneider as his anchors and the leaders of this team for the spring. "Jeremy and Matt have been doing a really good job of setting the tone. Whether you have good or bad leaders they're always going to be the ones everyone looks to, and they have been great. We're really going to lean on those guys a lot this spring, not only to win a lot of matches but to show the underclassmen how to do things the right way."
Matthews said the focus now is on the non-conference portion of the schedule and setting the lineup. "Now is more about us, those BIG EAST teams will be there when we get into those matches," said Matthews. "Right now were focused on our lineup, trying to figure out our doubles teams. We have a really good mix of youth and experience with four freshmen and our two senior captains. We know what we're going to get from our seniors, we're figuring out which of these freshman will step up and provide an impact for us because we'll definitely need some younger guys to step up this year.
"We've been challenging our guys to compete at everything they do. Whenever you play a Big Ten team they will have a good environment there. I want to see how we handle that situation."
For updates and more information on Xavier Men's Tennis, visit www.GoXavier.com and follow @XavierMTEN on Twitter. #LetsGoX
The Musketeers finished their fall 2016 season with a record of 36-40 in singles play and 30-30 in doubles play. This Saturday, the Musketeers open the season vs. Michigan State of the Big Ten.
Head Coach Doug Matthews has high expectations for the team coming into this season. "I think whenever you only have six practices before your first match, it's really important for our guys to take advantage of the break," said Matthews. "I think our guys did that. Most of our guys coming back are hitting the ball really well and look like they're in really good shape. We're always focused on competing at a high level every day, and have been doing that so far in the weight room also. We're looking forward to getting started this weekend."
Matthews refers to seniors Matt Bishop and Jeremy Schneider as his anchors and the leaders of this team for the spring. "Jeremy and Matt have been doing a really good job of setting the tone. Whether you have good or bad leaders they're always going to be the ones everyone looks to, and they have been great. We're really going to lean on those guys a lot this spring, not only to win a lot of matches but to show the underclassmen how to do things the right way."
Matthews said the focus now is on the non-conference portion of the schedule and setting the lineup. "Now is more about us, those BIG EAST teams will be there when we get into those matches," said Matthews. "Right now were focused on our lineup, trying to figure out our doubles teams. We have a really good mix of youth and experience with four freshmen and our two senior captains. We know what we're going to get from our seniors, we're figuring out which of these freshman will step up and provide an impact for us because we'll definitely need some younger guys to step up this year.
"We've been challenging our guys to compete at everything they do. Whenever you play a Big Ten team they will have a good environment there. I want to see how we handle that situation."
For updates and more information on Xavier Men's Tennis, visit www.GoXavier.com and follow @XavierMTEN on Twitter. #LetsGoX
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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