University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Photo by: UNC Asheville
Season in Review: Men’s Tennis Closes Record-Breaking Year Strongly
07.03.2017 | Men's Tennis
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – When looking back on the 2017 season, there are a couple things that stand out to UNC Asheville men's tennis head coach Tom Hand.
The first of the two is pretty self-explanatory.
"One, of course, is Henry Patten's year," Hand said. "It was record-setting in a lot of different ways for us. I would definitely throw Josh Swindler in there as well. What those guys did in doubles was special. Josh had a great year in singles as well. That's the first thing in that those two guys sort of had a standout year."
The second part focuses more on the team itself in the 2017 season.
"The other part of it is that it was largely a year where our new guys spent a long time trying to find their feet," Hand said. "It was longer than I would have liked, but I think for the last couple of weeks of the season with the win against Liberty and then going down to the Big South Tournament and upsetting the two seed, and, really to be honest, we should have beaten (No. 3 seed) Campbell as well. I think it was long overdue in that we got to that point. I always knew that we could, and my hope is that we come back and hit the ground running from that point, rather than having to go through a long process again."
The push for a successful 2018 season for the Bulldogs began when the 2017 season ended.
"I think the summer is always an important time," Hand said. "It's something that I stress with the guys a lot. We want to come back and hit the ground running and not have to go through a long couple of weeks of getting cobwebs off or getting in shape or whatever it might be. We need to come back to hit the ground running. We've done that with varying degrees of success. I feel pretty good."
Hand is excited to see how it all comes together when the team reports in August.
"I think the best word at this point and for most of the fall is curious," Hand said. "It's one of those things where I am just interested to see. Obviously, they'll work very hard and do all the things we need to do and we'll try our best to control the things we can, but ultimately, we will not know what we've got until we start playing the matches."
The Bulldogs return a ton of talent, but for the most part, it will also be a very young squad in the 2017-18 athletic year.
"We've got a young team next year," Hand said. "We won't have any seniors, so the crew that we have coming back next year we will have for two years, which I think is always quite an exciting proposition. Obviously, we'll have some leadership out of Henry, Olly Cull and some other guys we have coming back. I think they're excited about that. They'll be asked to do a lot as juniors. They'll be the seniors. It'll be a challenge for them, but I think they're ready to take it on. We had some really good discussions in our end of year meetings about exactly that. Some of the things that we thought worked this year and, conversely, some of the things that we thought we should tweak."
Hand knows despite returning the Big South Player of the Year in Patten that some may overlook the Bulldogs already next year, but he also knows that they have the talent to make some noise.
"We're not going to be a favorite in terms of conference next year, but I actually think we're going to surprise some people," Hand said.
To learn more about UNC Asheville men's tennis, please visit uncabulldogs.com. You can also follow them on Twitter and Instagram at @UNCATennis.
The first of the two is pretty self-explanatory.
"One, of course, is Henry Patten's year," Hand said. "It was record-setting in a lot of different ways for us. I would definitely throw Josh Swindler in there as well. What those guys did in doubles was special. Josh had a great year in singles as well. That's the first thing in that those two guys sort of had a standout year."
The second part focuses more on the team itself in the 2017 season.
"The other part of it is that it was largely a year where our new guys spent a long time trying to find their feet," Hand said. "It was longer than I would have liked, but I think for the last couple of weeks of the season with the win against Liberty and then going down to the Big South Tournament and upsetting the two seed, and, really to be honest, we should have beaten (No. 3 seed) Campbell as well. I think it was long overdue in that we got to that point. I always knew that we could, and my hope is that we come back and hit the ground running from that point, rather than having to go through a long process again."
The push for a successful 2018 season for the Bulldogs began when the 2017 season ended.
"I think the summer is always an important time," Hand said. "It's something that I stress with the guys a lot. We want to come back and hit the ground running and not have to go through a long couple of weeks of getting cobwebs off or getting in shape or whatever it might be. We need to come back to hit the ground running. We've done that with varying degrees of success. I feel pretty good."
Hand is excited to see how it all comes together when the team reports in August.
"I think the best word at this point and for most of the fall is curious," Hand said. "It's one of those things where I am just interested to see. Obviously, they'll work very hard and do all the things we need to do and we'll try our best to control the things we can, but ultimately, we will not know what we've got until we start playing the matches."
The Bulldogs return a ton of talent, but for the most part, it will also be a very young squad in the 2017-18 athletic year.
"We've got a young team next year," Hand said. "We won't have any seniors, so the crew that we have coming back next year we will have for two years, which I think is always quite an exciting proposition. Obviously, we'll have some leadership out of Henry, Olly Cull and some other guys we have coming back. I think they're excited about that. They'll be asked to do a lot as juniors. They'll be the seniors. It'll be a challenge for them, but I think they're ready to take it on. We had some really good discussions in our end of year meetings about exactly that. Some of the things that we thought worked this year and, conversely, some of the things that we thought we should tweak."
Hand knows despite returning the Big South Player of the Year in Patten that some may overlook the Bulldogs already next year, but he also knows that they have the talent to make some noise.
"We're not going to be a favorite in terms of conference next year, but I actually think we're going to surprise some people," Hand said.
To learn more about UNC Asheville men's tennis, please visit uncabulldogs.com. You can also follow them on Twitter and Instagram at @UNCATennis.
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