Building a Solid Foundation Paying Off for Golden Eagles
3/30/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
HATTIESBURG, Miss. _ Isn't it nice when a plan works?
Take the University of Southern Mississippi men's tennis team.
For the past three seasons, Coach Zubin Engineer have not only been building on wins in the present, but laying the foundation for the future.
"It's about the buildup," said Rakshit Rishi, a senior transfer who has played No. 5 and No. 6 singles as well as No. 2 and No. 3 doubles this spring. "He's not looking at just last season or this season. He's looking at years, how the men's team is going to be in two or three years."
The long view has worked well in the short term, too.
In Engineer's first season at the helm, the Golden Eagles went 12-11 in spring dual matches. Last season, Southern Miss improved to 15-9.
So far, this spring, the Golden Eagles have gone 14-7, winning their past five matches and seven of their last eight.
With at least two more matches scheduled -- hosting the University of Louisiana-Lafayette on April 8 before visiting the University of New Orleans on April 16 -- Southern Miss could post the program's most wins since 1997, when the Golden Eagles went 16-9.
The Conference USA Men's Tennis Tournament is set for April 21-24 in Houston, and Engineer said that's where he wants to see the Golden Eagles peaking.
"It's always a building up process," Engineer said. "It's about peaking for the conference championship.
"I've got the right guys in the right spots, so it's working quite well."
Eight players have appeared in matches for Southern Miss this spring, with the roster perfectly proportioned with two seniors, two juniors, two sophomores and two freshmen.
"That's making a big difference, the depth," Engineer said. "All eight are capable of winning for us.
"Everyone on the team is doing their jobs in their spot. So, that helps. We have a lot of depth, one through eight."
The octet includes:
• Senior Tarun Surat, 7-10 at No. 1 singles; 0-2 at No. 2 singles
• Junior Wen-Po Tseng, 8-5 at No. 2 singles; 0-2 at No. 1 singles
• Junior Chao-Yu Huang, 7-6 at No. 3 singles; 1-1 at No. 2 singles
• Freshman Jorman Reyes , 6-4 at No. 4 singles; 3-0 at No. 3 singles; 2-1 at No. 5 singles
• Sophomore Daniel Merker, 4-2 at No. 5 singles; 3-3 at No. 4 singles
• Rishi, 5-2 at No. 6 singles; 1-2 at No. 5 singles
• Freshman Teeradon Tortrakul, 5-1 at No. 6 singles
• Sophomore Mikhail Esipov, 1-0 at No. 5 singles.
Each of the eight has contributed in variations of doubles' lineups, though the primary pairings have been Surat-Merker at No. 1, Huang-Teng at No. 2 and either Rishi or Esipov teaming with Reyes at No. 3.
"Basically, it's the same group of guys, so I think the difference between this year and last year is that we've gotten more comfortable with one another and we realize that it takes everybody to succeed, not just one guy," Merker said. "Any day, anybody can have a bad day, but it doesn't matter because we've got (seven) other guys who can win anytime.
"So, that helps a lot, knowing you can trust in your teammates and you don't have to put all the pressure on one person."
The success has been spread across the courts, and that success has been noticed. In 2015, Tseng was the lone Golden Eagle honored as a C-USA Tennis Athlete of the Week. This spring, Reyes (March 1-7), Surat (March 8-14) and Merker (March 15-21) have pulled down the honor in consecutive weeks.
"The challenge has been very good," Engineer said. "I'm enjoying the team dynamics and I'm enjoying bringing out the best in each of the eight, because that's what it's all about. Bring out their best mental, technical, physical, tactical capability."
A meatier schedule also has provided a better measure for the Golden Eagles as well, Rishi said.
"We've played tougher teams, if you compare to last year," he said. "We've had some bad losses, matches that we should have won, but on the other hand, we have some really good wins, also. The teams we lost to last year, we were supposed to lose to last year, and now, this time, you're playing them and you are beating them. So, that's good."
Merker gave a nod to Engineer's approach, which allows each Golden Eagle to play the style that best suits, but demands in practice that each also work on whatever might be the weaker aspects of their games.
"He just wants everybody to work not only on what they are comfortable with, but work on their weaknesses and develop more ways in which you win, because if you only have one way you can win a match, then the opponent is going to get used to that," Merker said. "So, sometime during the match, you have to change a little bit the way that you play.
"So, coach is always getting us to work on the parts of our game that are not as strong. Your strengths, you already have that, so we have to work on our weaknesses and make them strengths."
Building that game, going through the process, is a lot more pleasant with mounting successes. "Practice is better after a win," Merker said with a smile.