Last Sunday, the men’s tennis team played their last meet of the season as a team. On Friday, April 28, they played Wartburg’s elite tennis team, and on Sunday, April 30, they played against Coe College. Loras ended up falling to both teams.

Said senior and team captain Joe Holguin, “Wartburg is a very solid team at the top of the conference that outplayed us. This is a team that we hope to beat and is a clear indication of the level we need to improve when the off-season occurs.”

 It is games like these two that motivate the team to keep at it.

“We are an athletic team that needs to begin working on our skills and confidence to compete with the Wartburgs and Coes of the conference,” Holguin continued.

The tennis team keeps running into the same problem, which Holguin addressed with directness and an eagerness to improve.

“With both Wartburg and Coe, we tried our best to compete. Although the individual games and matches were competitive, the overall scores would show us not winning the key points to having more successful results,” Holguin said. “Winning the big points in games and matches is what makes a team a winning team or a losing team, and we are simply trying to overcome this hurdle to be the team we want to be.”

With the game against Wartburg on Friday, the Duhawks did get a win, when Holguin and junior John Blesz beat their competition in the doubles match. However, Holguin is a senior, and this meet was also a sentimental one for him, as he will not be coming back next year to play for the Duhawks.

“The one thing I truly felt after that match was a little sad. John Blesz and I have been playing our first season together, and the State-Qualifier from Missouri (Blesz) has been a doubles partner that has taught me a lot on and off the court, and truly gives me a lot of confidence,” Holguin said. “He is known for having the best serve in the conference, and has played terrifically at the net. I will be disappointed that I cannot play more with him in the future, but hope we can have one final run together in the conference tourney.”

The biggest challenge for the team throughout the season has been confidence.

“It’s believing that we shouldn’t just be able to play with specific teams, but beat those teams. We have the talent and athleticism to do so, but for one reason or another have been coming up short.”

As a whole team, they did not make the upcoming IIAC conference tournament. However, there were a few individual athletes on the team who made it that far for the singles and doubles. Sophomore John Keane and junior Adam Holland qualified for the singles tournament, and junior Jared Levy and Holguin qualified for the doubles tournament.

“In years past we have done quite well in this tournament. Last year, Jared and I were able to make it to the final 16 for singles and final four for doubles. We also have John Keane as the No. 1 seed for C flight singles and Adam Holland as the No. 4 seed for singles. These players are hoping to make a run deep in the tourney and qualify for day two of the conference tournament,” said Holguin.