For the men’s tennis team, 2015 has been a roller coaster ride.
After an up-and-down start to the season, the Bisons came out of a slump to win six of their next seven matches, only to see it all come down in the form of a five-match losing streak. They carry that streak into the first round of Friday’s Great American Conference (GAC) tournament.
Injuries and the departure of players have hit the Bisons hard this year, but they may have taken their toughest blow of the season last week. After playing through pain for five weeks, No. 1 singles player, senior Jon Mark Rowden, discovered he had a completely torn latissimus dorsi muscle, which will end his college tennis career.
“That news made me feel like my career was over,” Rowden said. “But my teammates and coaches have been supportive and picked me up and let me be a part of helping them get better to finish this year up. Heading into these final matches, I’m just going to be an encouragement to my teammates.”
Rowden, the most experienced player on the roster, was a 2014 All-GAC selection. His loss will be another tough situation to handle for the Bisons, but there have been bright spots in the past week.
Sophomore Neto Cacace won his 20th doubles match of the season on Monday playing with freshman Adrian Torrico. The win makes Cacace the first Harding player since 1998 to win 20 doubles matches in a season. Cacace was quick to give his teammates credit for his success and said that no matter how the season ends up, this team is going to fight.
“I wouldn’t have made it without (my doubles partners),” Cacace said. “But it feels good seeing the hard work that I have been putting in this year paying off. We have had trials this season, but our team faced them positively and this weekend won’t be different. We are going to fight and bring our best.”
For Rowden, watching from the sidelines this weekend will be much like the 2015 season has been: difficult. Despite the highs and lows, though, there is no doubt that he will be there for the team he’s fought so hard for these last four years.
“As we go into our conference tournament we are going to have to change our mindset from ‘poor us look what we have been through’ to ‘this is what we have to work with, lets do the best we can with it,'” Rowden said. “All I can do is really encourage and push my teammates to be the best they can be and fight harder than they have ever fought until the end. If they do that, we will finish the season on a positive note, regardless of the outcome of these matches.”
The Bisons play Southeastern Oklahoma State University in the first round of the GAC Tournament today at noon in Bentonville, Ark.
