Ashland University’s men’s and women’s tennis teams will play their first match of the spring season on Saturday, Feb 3 at 4 p.m.. This match will be an exhibition against Duquesne University, a Division 1 team, in Pittsburgh.. 

New head coach, Eric Gibson stated “I tell my players that if we can perform well against a D1 team, such as Duquesne, then we can perform well against any team on our schedule this season.” 

Exhibition matches are a chance for players to practice their skills in preparation for the upcoming season. It will also not count officially towards the win and loss record in the tennis season. The match is recorded on the win and loss record, but it does not affect either of the teams. 

To prepare for this match, the tennis teams have been training at the Aspen Racquet Club in Wooster, OH. They have been doing challenge matches to determine what their lineup for the exhibition match will be. On the days the teams do not practice, they are conditioning and lifting.  

“We have been focusing on getting everybody into match shape by performing a lot of consistency and movement drills. The players need to be able to move correctly to get the ball and do a quality shot,” Fabian Avila Torres, graduate assistant coach, explained, “In the last week and a half, we focused more on playing points and matches since we are close to playing Duquesne. Players need to start feeling the pressure and excitement to play points again in a competitive environment.” 

 The men’s and women’s tennis teams will have their first match towards their win and loss record on Feb 10 at 3 p.m. against John Carroll University. 

Reid Opel, sophomore on the AU men’s tennis team said, “We had a great fall season and with 4 incoming players this semester combined on the men’s and women’s team, we are excited to continue this onto our spring season.”