It was a tough weekend for the Lipscomb men’s tennis team as they went 0-2 against their Atlantic Sun Conference competition.
Despite the losses, Bison head coach Mario Hernandez saw some good things from his team and is confident they can move forward from the weekend.
“I think for the most part our guys are playing at a good level,”Hernandez said, “but we need some guys to figure out how deep they’re going to dig try and clinch the win for the team.
“We’ve got the ability to do some great things this year, but we need to believe that and be ready to earn our wins.”
The Bisons dropped a 4-2 match to Stetson on Thursday before they were bested 5-2 by North Florida on Saturday.
Saturday’s match with the Ospreys was closer than the score might indicate and Hernandez was able to draw positives from the loss.
“There are much more positives to draw from this match against a good team, but nobody is satisfied,” Hernandez said. “That isn’t a negative but more a positive because we know what our potential is, but it’s time to realize that potential instead of talking about it. In confident this group can step up and do it.”
One positive from the weekend was the play of senior Rob Mitchell. Mitchell has started conference play with a perfect 4-0 record while playing as the top seed.
Similarly, Alejandro Manzanares has started 3-1 in conference play, suffering his first loss on Saturday. “They competed very well and displayed the grit, fight and confidence we need from all our players,” Hernandez said of the upperclassman.
Lipscomb (5-10, 1-3) travels to Florida for matches with Florida Atlantic and Florida Gulf Coast next week. With just three matches remaining, Hernandez wants his guys to leave everything on the court.
“We have a good team but we can still be much better and get even more out of all our guys. Once we do that, these close matches will start going in our favor. We have to believe and keep striving for that.”
Photo courtesy of Lipscomb Athletics