Roster:
Jordan Patt – Senior
Elizabeth Konon – Sophomore
Jacob Rodgers – Senior
Joe Grant – Graduate Student
Chandler Clayton – Junior
Nick Allen – Sophomore
Grace Larrain – Sophomore
Sara Murphy – Junior
Emily Oberwetter - Freshman
Meghana Vasireddy – Senior
Teams defeated this season: Minnesota, Michigan, Northwestern, Ohio State, DePaul, Illinois, University of Illinois-Chicago, Miami (OH)
Q: How did you first hear about the Tennis On Campus program? What made you decide to actively take part and also become a leader on your campus? How do you feel about TOC and being a captain?
I grew up playing tennis and have now been playing competitively for roughly 15 years. A few of my friends that I grew up playing with decided to play club tennis at their universities and it sounded like a fun, competitive setting to continue playing tennis. I’ve always been heavily involved in tennis and absolutely love my club tennis team. This made me want to become a leader for our team so that I could become more involved and help new members have a great experience with TOC as well.
I think TOC is the best combination of a fun, team-oriented dynamic and quality, competitive tennis. There have been players on our team that have chosen TOC over Division I varsity tennis for that reason and they seem to love the atmosphere of TOC. I think it is an honor to be able to lead one of the largest tennis clubs in the country and continually compete at a high level while gaining new friends at my own university and others we meet at tournaments.
Q: How did you enjoy your National Championships experience last year?
Last year’s National Championship was excellent. Our team had a lot of fun both on and off the court. We placed seventh overall, which was a major improvement from the last few years, and our team bonded and became very close. I’m looking forward to a similar experience this year.
Q: What does it mean to be back? Was it a more difficult road to return to Nationals?
We are very excited to be back at Nationals this year. Last year’s seventh place finish was good, but we are confident we can improve on that result this year. Most of our team has returned from last year and we also have added some talented new members to our team. As a result, we took second in the Midwest Sectional this year, despite winning the title last year. Overall, the team is ready to show what we have to prove and without a doubt is shooting for a top four or five finish this year, maybe even the championship!
Q: In what ways has your team improved this year?
Our team has gained some new talent this year that has bolstered our roster, and numerous crucial members of our team have returned this season, meaning we are stronger than last year. This season we defeated Minnesota, which placed second in last year’s National Championship, and also conquered notable opponents such as Michigan, Northwestern, Ohio State and DePaul, among others.
Q: What do you tell new players about Nationals, or players that are traveling for the first time to compete for your school?
The first thing we tell them is that it’s a blast!. Most freshmen are pretty nervous when they think about playing in Nationals, but after they’ve already experienced the pressure of the Midwest Championship, they know what the pressure is like and they know what to expect. To counter their nerves, we always tell them how much fun it is and that the hardest part is getting there, now comes the fun part.
Q: Who was your toughest opponent at past Nationals and how did they challenge you to become better?
Our toughest opponent at past Nationals was UCLA. We played them in the quarterfinals and lost by a mere four games. It was especially tough since between all five matches, there were at least 10 no-ad deuce points – most of which we lost. It’s difficult to look back and think that if we had won even two more deuce points, we would’ve won two more games and UCLA would’ve lost two more games – resulting in a draw. The theoretical two points that came between a top-four finish and seventh place really upset our team, but I can assure you that our team now plays all deuce points with an unmatched intensity.
Q: Does your team actively use social media to stay connected? If so, what social media platforms are your favorites? Does your team use social media in any special way that you feel sets you apart from other teams?
Our team uses Facebook the most frequently, but we also use Twitter to share information as well. We use our team’s Facebook page and Twitter page to reach out to our entire team, our families, our friends and other students at our university. In addition, we also have a separate Facebook page just for our team, where we post relevant team information as well as fun memories we have as a team. This keeps everyone connected and helps facilitate a bond between all of our members, which makes everyone feel welcome as part of our club tennis family.
Q: Do you have many seniors on your team? Do you think they know about opportunities after graduation like “Sets in the City” or young adult social leagues? Do you think anyone on your team would be interested in starting one?
We have 14 seniors on our roster, most of which will be graduating this spring. Many of them already compete in summer leagues to get some match play in while we aren’t practicing as a team. With as much talent as our seniors have, I am sure they will keep playing after college to continue their love for the game.
Share with us some of the ways you help out in the local and global communities in the name of tennis.
We host an annual Youth Tennis six-week program during the year to introduce the game to underprivileged kids in the Madison area. In all, we serve around 150 children. To see the joy on their faces while it happens, to know that they’re learning a skill, it’s awesome.
Share with us a funny story about the 2015 team or team member(s).
One of our team members, Nick, likes to go by his nickname “Ralph.” He got the nickname in high school (it’s a long story), but it stuck and now he always introduces himself as Ralph. A few months into last semester, we were discussing something as a team and I mentioned Nick during the conversation. Since he’s the only Nick on our team and nobody calls him by that name, all of the new members, and even a couple returning members, were looking around wondering who this Nick kid was. I proceeded to explain to them that Ralph’s real name was Nick, and despite being on the team for a decent amount of time, none of them had realized that Ralph was not actually his real name.
If a local newspaper was to write a story about your team what is the one thing you’d want to make sure they included?
I think any newspaper article about our team would have to include the amount of fun we have as a team. Wherever we go, we always pride ourselves as being one of the teams who has the most fun and we welcome any team we come across to hang out with us. We have a wealth of talent on our team and we consistently have great players that help us compete with some of the best teams in the country. But we also have a wealth of personality on our team and we try to bring that out as much as possible, which makes our team one, big family.
Of course, every time we go out onto the court, we strive to play our best and win matches. But our main focus is to always have fun and enjoy the experiences we have together as a team. I’ve traveled with our team to tournaments where we’ve won it all and I’ve traveled to tournaments where we’ve underperformed, but I can assure you that there has never been a trip with my team that hasn’t been extremely fun.
