Tennis Prepares for PL Tournament

The higher-ups at the university never expected this to happen. In a season filled with adversity, AU's best team, the men's tennis squad, this weekend defends its Patriot League crown at home against Colgate, Army and Navy. The tournament will open Saturday with the Eagles taking on Colgate and Army playing Navy. The winners of the two matches will compete Sunday in the league championship game for the automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. "We're opening against Colgate and if we don't come out playing well, we could lose early," said senior captain Juan Jaysingh. "But we've played so hard all year and worked for this, so I'm pretty confident and excited about our chances." The Eagles come off a perfect Patriot League season, which they concluded with a 5-2 victory up at Lehigh on Monday afternoon, to close their record at 15-4, 6-0 in the league. In the victory, the Eagles lost their doubles point with number one team Jaysingh and sophomore Jeff Schnell losing, 8-2. Juancarlo Vazquez lost the only singles match, while Jaysingh, Nicolas Frayssinoux, Sebastien Proisy, Jeff Schnell, and Marc Doumba won singles matches. "We haven't been playing well in the doubles and that could be a problem for us since we play doubles first in the tournament," said Jaysingh. The only senior on the team, Jaysingh was switched to the number one singles spot midway through the year and has been playing well, including his naming as Patriot League Player of the Month for March. He will likely play number one again this weekend, with junior Juancarlo Vazquez, the early season's number one, will play number two singles. First year head coach Kyle Bailey may switch up the doubles pairings. The Eagles also expect a large crowd out to support this weekend. The last two years have averaged 250 fans and with all the drama surrounding the future elimination of the program, it is likely that many more supporters will come out to support AU tennis with their Save Our Sports signs and creative chants. "The homecourt advantage will be huge," said Jaysingh. "The fans have really helped us the past couple years and we'll need them this weekend." One thing the Eagles may have to overcome is an injury bug that has broken out. At the end of the year, everyone is banged up, but it seems like AU may be more banged up than normal, with Jaysingh and Vazquez both nursing injuries. Over the past few weeks, Bailey has cut down on their activity to save them for the postseason. For Jaysingh, this weekend represents his final opportunity to take a step toward an NCAA victory. For three years, the Eagles have knocked on the door, but have not been able to break through. In Bailey's first season, they look like a team that could make a run. "I'm really happy and excited about the way we've played and for what we could do," said the senior captain. What they could do starts with what they must do first and that starts this weekend.