Last week in Hilton Head, South Carolina, the men’s tennis team was untouchable. In three matches against Lawrence University, Augustana College, and Carleton College, Oberlin was dominant, winning 7–0, 7–0, and 6–1 respectively. These victories in warmer weather bring the team’s record to 9–3 this spring, their best start in over a decade. Their hot start this season has come with the help of powerful contributions from newcomers. The first-years on the team, Cameron Weiss and Dash Smith, have immediately made an impact on the program. Weiss won three consecutive singles matches and six of his last seven. Smith has won four straight singles matches and is now competing in Oberlin’s number one spot.
“He has a game that no one on the team has,” fourth-year Sebastien Naginski commented on Smith’s success.
Naginski and Smith have won their last two matches as doubles partners against Augustana and Carleton. Naginski admitted that this year’s team feels special and is taking things more seriously than they have before.
“Everyone on the team last year is back this year,” pointed out fourth-year Shawn Lisann.
The spring break trip was an opportunity for the team to flex its muscles. It was tennis’ first opportunity to play outside, and the Yeomen took advantage of that. They went undefeated on the trip and also had a good time as a team in the process. Naginski explained that being able to play during spring break, when the stresses of schoolwork were removed, allowed for an exciting week.
“We focus on tennis, and we focus on the beach, and that’s it,” Naginski explained.
Returning from spring break, the Yeomen don’t just face schoolwork, but they also face conference play. The team’s excitement is high as they look to continue the success they’ve had. But Lisann stresses the importance of keeping their heads on straight.
“As good as we’ve been this year, we remind ourselves that we really haven’t done anything yet,” Lisann shared. “All of our important matches are still to be played.”
As the team faces off at the North Coast Athletic Conference, they will have to maintain their preseason momentum by continuing to work hard in order to face off against tougher upcoming opponents.
Naginski thinks the team is ready to handle it; they’re eager for competition.
“The guys on the team wanna compete,” Naginski said. “A lot of the younger guys, too, are looking for tough matches.”
Naginski recalled the day they faced Kalamazoo College early in the season and lost by one match. Fourth-year James Foster spoke to the team after the game, saying that this was the level of competition that the team would be facing in conference play. The team is eager for this competition and feels as if they have worked hard enough over the season to now take on tougher matches and win them.
The team will kick off conference play this weekend against Kenyon College, followed by a matchup against Tiffin University that same day, both home matches. These will mark the first matches played on newly constructed courts –– renovated recently by the College.
“Having such a big investment in the tennis team is motivating to us, to show back to the College how much we care about doing well and improving,” Naginski said.
So far, what the team has accomplished has done more than enough to show their ambition, but the matches this weekend will be the cherry on top of what has already been an exciting start to a season.
“The big [new] scoreboard we got has a massive horn noise that we can make,” Naginski joked. “I am very excited to see that in use.”
