They’ve been training the last eight months for what will begin today, March 4.
With two days of matches against Atlantic Sun foes, the weekend could set the tone for the season, for both the Bisons and Lady Bisons tennis teams.
Lipscomb begins the six weeks of A-Sun conference competition by hosting Mercer University at noon Friday at the Huston-Marsh-Griffith Tennis Center.
For men’s and women’s head coach Andrew Harris, the most exciting part will be opening up conference play on Lipscomb’s home courts in the great outdoors.
“I think the biggest thing for our program right now is being able to finally start playing outside on campus,” Harris said. “Since Jan. 10, we have been practicing inside every night and playing all of our non-conference matches indoors.
“So to be able to get outside last week for practice and have our conference matches here this weekend will be a huge boost for us, just from a motivational standpoint.”
Both the men’s and women’s teams will begin the toughest portion of their schedule Friday with matches against Mercer before facing A-Sun rival Kennesaw State on Saturday morning.
So far this season, the Lady Bisons have posted a 1-5 non-conference record heading into Friday’s opener.
Harris said the women’s enthusiasm will help them as they begin conference play.
“Our ladies continue to show a lot of heart and courage by coming to practice each night and creating a standard of energy and excitement,” Harris said. “Everyone of our ladies knows that they have a tremendous opportunity this year to set the bar high for the next few years for our program.”
Going into this crucial weekend, Harris and the women’s coaching staff have been emphasizing the importance of advantageous positioning during matches.
“The biggest thing we are stressing right now with them is the desire to compete and positioning ourselves to be in the matches,” Harris said. “Because once you are in the moment and you have positioned yourself to be successful, anything can happen.
“However, if we don’t compete and put that pressure on our opponents then, obviously, it’s going to be a long day. Competing at a high level match in and match out is our focus right now.”
The men’s team posted a 3-4 non-conference record throughout January and February, and after a grueling early schedule, Harris said he feels they are ready for the challenges of conference play.
“The guys played one of the most challenging non-conference schedules over the past seven matches that we have ever put together,” Harris said. “We did that, though, because this group of players is going to be seeing that type of competition every weekend in this league.
“This year they are starting to see how the hard work they applied in the fall will be beneficial over the next six weeks.”
With complete faith in the men, Harris is stressing to the Bisons to have confidence in themselves for the conference stretch.
“The key is mentally having the confidence to know that you will be in every match they play and winning on the crucial points,” Harris said. “It will be interesting to see what happens at the end of league play to look back and see what the group does.”
The Bisons and Lady Bisons will hit the courts of the Huston-Marsh-Griffith Tennis Center at noon on Friday to face Mercer, with doubles play preceding the singles matches.