After a successful season and conference championship wrap-up, Whitman College’s men’s tennis team now faces their next challenge: NCAA tennis nationals.

“I feel really good about how we did in conference and about going to nationals,” said sophomore Etienne Moshevich. “I think we could really do some damage there.”
The NCAA Division III Men’s Tennis Committee selected the seeding for the 41 national championship teams on Monday, May 4.

Whitman will face off against six-time national champion and 2007 winner UC Santa Cruz at their California home courts on Friday, May 8 at 2 p.m.

UC Santa Cruz is ranked no. 3 in the nation and has not lost a match since indoor nationals, according to Moshevich. However, he is confident about playing them and has high hopes about their ranking.

“The team is mostly made up of seniors, but I still think we have a good shot at taking them,” said Moshevich. “I know we can take them in singles if we play our best, and our #1 doubles team has already beaten theirs. We are all very excited to get a chance to play them.”

The National Championship, unlike the Northwest Conference Championship, is a single-elimination tournament rather than double-elimination. In other words, Whitman and the other participating team have one chance to “sink or swim” each round they play.

The first through third rounds of competition will take place May 8-10, and the quarterfinal, semifinal, and final rounds will be played at Claremont McKenna-Harvey Mudd-Scripps Colleges, May 19-24.

The team’s main goal in training for the championships is on the fitness level, according to Moshevich.

“In California, the courts are slow, and it will be hot, so we will have to outplay the other teams,” said Moshevich. “We’ve got to be in better shape than they are, and be used to the   courts and the heat.”

Moshevich plans on playing both singles and doubles at Nationals, and has been training hard to compete in both areas.

“I’m trying to be more aggressive on the court because at Nationals you need to take your game to them,” said Moshevich.

Coach Jeff Northam, aside from leading practices, has been instilling a “championship spirit” within his players through encouragement. Moshevich hopes that Northam’s encouragement and the team’s own self-encouragement will help the team carry their talent to nationals.

“Northam has really encouraged us to believe that we deserve to win, that we are national players. I feel that if we play well and step up we have a good shot at making it far,” said Moshevich.
At the national championships last year, the team lost to regional host Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in the first round. The team also played their first round opponent, UC Santa Cruz, last year at home, losing to them 8-1. Moshevich thinks that this year Whitman has a good chance at progressing further, even to some of the final rounds.

“I’m really excited to play and see what we can do,” said Moschevich. “It will be a really good test for us.”