College tennis provides athletes with the unique opportunity to unite their efforts in a sport which is traditionally individual. Tennis players that choose to compete at this level are exposed to a new set of goals, goals which emphasize pride for the school and team. Almost everyone that makes the choice to compete for their university embraces the privilege and grows as an athlete and a person. My name is Abe Souza. I am a sophomore on the University of Illinois' Men's Tennis Team.
We had a pretty good tournament as well. We fell in an absolute battle to UCLA on Friday the 13th, but fought back to beat Tulsa 4-3 on Saturday and Baylor 4-2 on Sunday. Our team is extremely young with only two seniors, so we are extremely excited to see how far we can go and how much we can improve over the course of this year. I will keep you updated on our progress, as well as the hilarious happenings of the Illinois Men's Tennis Team.
The rich winning tradition of our program is tremendously exciting to be a part of. Whether we are at Atkins Tennis Center practicing under the numerous Big Ten Championship banners, or at Irwin Academic Center studying next to photos of the 2003 National Championship season, our eleven-man team is constantly bombarded with reminders of the great history of champions we are now a part of. Members of our team are pushed to new levels of improvement and challenged to fulfill our potential, on the court and in the classroom. Illinois has produced many highly ranked professional players such as Amer Delic, Kevin Anderson, and Ryler DeHeart, just to name a few. Although they no longer attend our university, alumni as well as parents, coaches, fans, and other supporters are united in a strong effort to achieve great things in college tennis and beyond. Hopefully, I can give to you a hint of what this exciting part of our lives is all about through this blog.
Recently, from February 13-15, we had the honor of competing in the ITA National Indoor Championships. This tournament (which features the top 16 men's programs in the country) was held at Midtown Tennis Club in Chicago, Illinois. The club did a phenomenal job of making all the players feel welcome, and providing us with every necessary service. We were the host team which gave us the chance to experience some great support from our Chicago fans. In addition, many families of our team were able to be with us, helping us be completely relaxed and prepared for the battle. Marc Spicijaric's parents and sisters, Brian Livingston's parents and brother, and others gave us the encouragement that we needed. Of course, we found time for fun.
We had a pretty good tournament as well. We fell in an absolute battle to UCLA on Friday the 13th, but fought back to beat Tulsa 4-3 on Saturday and Baylor 4-2 on Sunday. Our team is extremely young with only two seniors, so we are extremely excited to see how far we can go and how much we can improve over the course of this year. I will keep you updated on our progress, as well as the hilarious happenings of the Illinois Men's Tennis Team.
Until next time,
Abe
Abe
