The men’s tennis team continued its success in doubles play and secured a 7-2 victory over Lindenwood University (LU) on Monday, March 28.
The Bisons swept the doubles competition for the ninth time this season after sophomore Carlos Crisostomo and freshman Henrique Vieira saved eight match points on their way to a 9-7 win.
Trailing 7-5, 40-0, to LU’s No. 1 doubles team, Crisostomo and Vieira won three straight points to get back to deuce. After saving four more match points, a disputed “out” call stopped play as the teams discussed the point. When play resumed, the Bisons’ duo saved yet another match point and won the next four games to seal the victory.
Vieira said the call was frustrating, but he and Crisostomo were determined to fight back and win the match.
“(Crisostomo) was really angry, so I just tried to calm him and down and get focused again,” Vieira said. “He made some really good returns that gave me confidence at the net after that, and we did all we had to do to win the game, even though we weren’t playing our best.”
Vieira, juniors Neto Cacace and Brandon Hogland, and sophomore Adrian Torrico all won singles matches to clinch the match for the Bisons, after losing five of six singles matches to Southwest Baptist University three days earlier.
According to Cacace, the team has been working on bringing the confidence it has in doubles play into its singles matches.
“We’re beating all the good teams in doubles, even the ranked ones, and we’re always outplaying them,” Cacace said. “In singles, it’s totally mental. We’re all good singles players, but some of the guys are not always feeling confident because they haven’t played well in the other singles matches.”
Cacace said that more positive body language and vocal encouragement would boost the confidence of the players. He said that he and some of his teammates try to encourage each other by cheering throughout the singles matches.
“Sometimes you are playing a match and you see your teammate losing and getting down and you obviously start to get down on yourself, but if you see them winning and fired up, it’s going to cheer you up,” Cacace said. “(Encouragement) is one of the things we’ve been working on this year…and we told a couple of our players that are not very loud to be (more vocal).”
Vieira said the team’s mental toughness is all that stands between it and a Great American Conference (GAC) championship, which would be Harding’s first.
“I think you have to believe in yourself, believe in your skills and ability to play, and be comfortable with the uncomfortable,” Vieira said. “If everybody plays 100 percent, we can (win the conference).”
Results from the Bisons’ match against John Brown University on Thursday, March 31, were unavailable as of press time. The Bisons will begin GAC play against Southeastern Oklahoma State University on Saturday, April 2, at 11 a.m. at the Harding tennis courts.
