The Bison tennis team continues its amazing start to the 2011-12 season with its 15th straight victory to open the season.
The Bisons also had a 15-0 start in the 2007-08 season. Harding is now 31-4 in its last 43 matches dating to last season.
“It’s a great feeling being part of a team that is undefeated in the season,” senior Aldo Campos said. “It shows all the hard work everybody is putting in during practice every day. It also reflects the effort Coach Elliott and Coach Marco put in by pushing us to work hard every time we are on the courts and encouraging us to always try our best.”
The Bisons defeated Central College of Pella, Iowa, 9-0 on Wednesday at the Harding Tennis Courts.
Head Coach David Elliott said the year is going so well because this years’ team is the strongest he has ever had.
“We’re a very young team but we also have some strong seniors,” Elliott said. “We’re talented. We’ve got more talent and more depth than we have ever had. Our work ethic is probably better than I’ve ever seen. Everybody is united to make the team successful and our team chemistry is very good.”
Harding took a 3-0 lead with victories in all three doubles matches. The Bisons are now 42-3 in doubles matches this season. Kittibodee Singnil and Jon Mark Rowden improved to 5-0 with an 8-3 victory at No. 1. Alex Ford and Caleb McReynolds won their team-high seventh doubles match at No. 2, and Henrique Ruiz and Helio Hashimoto remained unbeaten at 4-0 with a win at No. 3.
Harding also won all six of the singles matches in straight sets. Singnil did not lose a game in winning his fifth straight to start his Harding career at No. 1. Rowden also remained unbeaten at 8-0 with a victory at No. 2. Hashimoto and Edwards both won their sixth straight singles matches.
“I’m looking forward to seeing how far we can extend our undefeated record,” junior Sammy Lhotak said. “I am especially excited about our last home match vs. Ouachita Baptist since they were picked to finish first in our conference.”
Harding returns to action at home on Wednesday against LeMoyne-Owen College. Elliot is excited to see what this match and the rest of the season holds for the Bisons.
“I can’t wait [for the rest of the season,]” Elliott said. “Our team motto is ‘respect everybody, fear no one’ and that’s the way we will approach these last matches. I feel confident and we will give them our best shot. When we walk of the court when it’s all over with, we will have done the best that we can. Any team that comes to play us better be ready to play, because we are going to be ready to play. If we’re good enough, we’re going to win.”
On the other side of the net, The Lady Bisons improved their record to 15-2 after defeating Central College on Wednesday. They return to action at 2 p.m. today at their home courts to face off against Arkansas Tech University.
