Bring on the Bruins

Emotions are running high this week for the Eastern Washington University Men's tennis team as last weekend's (April 26-27) Conference Tournament brought dramatic wins over the Bobcats of Montana State and those pesky Hornets of Sacramento State to wrap up EWU's first Men's tennis Big Sky Championship and automatic bid to the NCAA Men's Tennis Tournament.

Crazy doesn't describe last weekend's Big Sky Conference Tournament. On Saturday, the team faced a persistent and tough Bobcats squad who at one time had the Eagles down 3-0 in a best-of-7-games series.

The Eagles picked up the pieces and put what they knew and learned all season from Head Coach Darren Haworth back to use, sparking the comeback with wins at No. 2 and 3 singles, setting up the most nerve-wracking and pivotal match of the season.

Eags No. 5 singles player Art Karas, sick and suffering from cramps in the first set, proved that his clutch was better than Justin Huack's clutch by prevailing 6-7, 7-6, 7-6, winning the third-set tiebreak 7-5.

Karas was then taken to a local hospital where three liters of fluids were put into his body.

"Since I was sick I just wanted to approach each point one at a time and not look into the future of the match, but it was a team effort. The guys did what they needed to do on the court as well as had my back throughout my match," said Karas.

The stage was set for the Big Sky Championship, No. 1 seeded Sacramento State Hornets versus No. 2 seeded Eastern Washington University Eagles. The dramatics were just beginning, carrying into Sunday's Championship match against the Hornets. Going into the match the Eags had a real sour taste in their mouths from their previous regular season match they had, losing 4-3. The Eags knew their match was going to be another challenge, especially playing for the title.

The Eags opened the match by earning the important doubles point with wins by No. 1 doubles team Panhara Mam and Kyle Schrader and No. 3 team Nico Riego de Dios and Art Karas both teams pulled out victories setting the tone for the match, so they thought. Like any team tennis match it isn't over until it's over, the Hornets rallied back with three crucial singles victories from their No. 1, 2 and 5 seeds certainly stinging the confidence of the Eags where they found themselves down 1-3 and about to lose the championship they worked so hard for. I asked Coach Haworth what he told his players when down 1-3, he said, "Believe in your selves, you guys are the better players out there so let's win". Those few words ignited an immediate belief in themselves and teammates because of the philosophy coach Haworth instilled in his team all season. "Hard work and discipline will win us a Big Sky Championship". Sure enough with words of encouragement the Eags had a lot of fight left in their tanks rallying back with wins from No. 6 Daniel Pez, No. 4 Kenneth Noorling and No. 3 Nico Riego de Dios whose gut wrenching three set match was the decisive match and ticket to the National Tournament. "The talent level on this team is definitely capable of winning, we knew that, I just didn't know what we were in for over the weekend, but the heart and the teamwork of this team was shown over the weekend." said Schrader. Now, they're gutsy performances of last weekend's tournament will carry them into the National Tournament where they will do battle with elite teams of Division 1 tennis, like top ranked University of Virginia Cavaliers and prestigious tennis universities like Stanford and UCLA. Coach Haworth said, "This is an incredible opportunity for the guys, the result of hard work." I asked Schrader what he's looking forward to for the upcoming National Tournament, he said, "Hopefully go in with the same mentality we went in with over the weekend, I lost my singles on Sunday but one of my teammates picked us up by winning their match. Basically keep the ride going and hopefully enjoy some good weather." This is a huge step in the right direction for Eastern Washington University athletics. Earlier this year our football team laid it on the line all season to make it to the semifinals of the Division 1 AA Football Tournament so let's support our Men's Tennis team as we did the football team because they're making history as we speak.

The Eags opened the match by earning the important doubles point with wins by No. 1 doubles team Panhara Mam and Kyle Schrader and No. 3 team Nico Riego de Dios and Art Karas both teams pulled out victories setting the tone for the match, so they thought. Like any team tennis match it isn't over until it's over, the Hornets rallied back with three crucial singles victories from their No. 1, 2 and 5 seeds certainly stinging the confidence of the Eags where they found themselves down 1-3 and about to lose the championship they worked so hard for. When asked what he told his players when down 1-3, Haworth said, "Believe in yourselves, you guys are the better players out there so let's win."

Those few words ignited an immediate belief in themselves and teammates because of the philosophy Haworth instilled in his team all season.

"Hard work and discipline will win us a Big Sky Championship."

Sure enough with words of encouragement the Eags had a lot of fight left in their tanks rallying back with wins from No. 6 Daniel Pez, No. 4 Kenneth Noorling and No. 3 Nico Riego de Dios whose gut-wrenching three-set match was the decisive match and ticket to the National Tournament.

"The talent level on this team is definitely capable of winning, we knew that, I just didn't know what we were in for over the weekend, but the heart and the teamwork of this team was shown over the weekend," said Schrader.

Now, their gutsy performances of last weekend's tournament will carry them into the National Tournament where they will do battle with elite teams of Division I tennis.

First up will be number three ranked UCLA. Haworth said, "This is an incredible opportunity for the guys, the result of hard work."

When asked what he's looking forward to for the upcoming National Tournament, Schrader said, "Hopefully go in with the same mentality we went in with over the weekend, I lost my singles on Sunday but one of my teammates picked us up by winning their match. Basically keep the ride going and hopefully enjoy some good weather."

The Eagles will travel to Los Angeles, Calif. on May 9, to test their ability against the heavily-favored Bruins.