by Leff Teeserv, edited by Miss Stove Erhead
Doubters beware – The Davidson College Club Tennis Team has been under-seeded before, yet they’re still headed to nationals.
Surprising many – perhaps everyone but themselves – Davidson’s club team (affectionately self-named Klub Varsity Tennis, or KVT) confidently worked their way through pool play at the Southern Sectional in late February. After defeating Vanderbilt and Emory at the Auburn University Tennis Complex, KVT faced a stout LSU team. Failing to capitalize on opportunities (subbing, strategy, and the occasional overhead), Davidson missed their first opportunity to qualify for nationals.
Undeterred, they stormed back the next morning. Facing Georgia in a win-or-go-home scenario, the doubles teams came out firing. The duos of Anne Meredith Baldy/Lucy McMurry and Jack Peterson/Jake Thompson both recorded 6-2 victories. Despite a brief scare in mixed doubles, senior Hannah English fired two forehands down the line to seal the victory.
Shortly afterwards Captains Mark Angel and Lucy McMurry had the bid to nationals in their hands.
“Honestly, I wished the piece of paper was a trophy. But once I got over the worry about more paper work, I realized it was the heaviest piece of paper I had ever held. You know, because of all the emotional weight,” captain and junior Mark Angel said.
Of course Davidson wasn’t satisfied. Nationals this year is being held in Cary, North Carolina – a mere two and a half hours from Davidson’s campus.
There have certainly been doubters along the way. One USTA Southern official told the captains that Davidson’s resurgence messed up his seeding. An unnamed UNCC player pulled a KVT member aside and asked if they had started recruiting or suddenly picked up new members.
In truth, the Davidson club program has been steadily growing, and this trip to nationals is a lot of hard work finally paying off.
A little over two years ago Jay Lanners Jr. took over the club program and made it his goal to expand and solidify the program. When current senior Jack Peterson took over the club 15 months ago, he knew Jay had formed a solid core.
“Jay developed an incredible platform from which we were able to launch our club to new heights. At the time Jay and I had little involvement from other upperclassmen, but he did a fantastic job of locking in the interests of the underclassmen. It gave me plenty to work with and build on over the next 12 months,” senior and former captain Jack Peterson explained. But he’s no longer in charge.
Peterson led the team to sectionals for the first time in February of 2011, and captained the team through a successful fall season in which the team grew to be the largest club team on campus.
Then Mark Angel and Lucy McMurry returned from abroad, and with them came visions of something much greater.
“We want to win worlds. That’s where we set our sights. Nationals is the next step in the pursuit of that goal,” Angel stated.
And here they are. Certainly they’ve received a bit of help along the way. Senior Hannah English, a 4-star recruit for tennis in high school, finished playing field hockey in the fall, and has rediscovered her love for tennis. Senior Romina Clemente also declined to return to the women’s varsity team at Davidson for her senior year. Freshman Kassim Alani was declined a spot on the men’s varsity team after tryouts, as was sophomore Keith Durante.
Asked about these additions, Peterson just shrugs. “Sure, some of it may be luck,” he said, “but you have to give credit to the captains and everyone involved – they made KVT a place that people want to be a part of. When presented with the opportunity to get the best players on campus involved, Mark and Lucy took the challenge head on and have put together and fantastic team. That isn’t all luck. That’s mixing energy, fun, and competition all in a way that is both enjoyable and aggressive. That’s KVT.”
And that is certainly true. The Wildcats are out for blood. They’re fully aware that they’re operating with a senior heavy squad (seniors English, Clemente, and Peterson are joined by Jake Thomposon), and that this may be their best opportunity. In fact, out of the eight starting spots (women’s doubles (2), men’s doubles (2), men’s and women’s singles (2), and mixed doubles (2)), Angel projects that seniors will start in six of them.
Davidson is the smallest school in the draw by nearly 4,000 students. They know they face an uphill climb in a pool that includes Baylor, Penn State, and Stony Brook, but they are charging in undaunted.
Keep an eye on their health. If Peterson’s stomach, Alani’s knee, and their general endurance hold up, the Wildcats could make some serious noise.
“I practiced in full today, and I feel fine. We may monitor my minutes, but I served and everything and I feel fine. Kassim practiced in full yesterday. I think we’re injury and gossip free,” Peterson replied when asked about his ailing abs.
Is this KVT’s best shot? That is certainly hard to judge. Asked about the future of the club when this year’s seniors graduate and Angel and McMurry pass the torch, sophomore Anne Meredith Baldy says, “We’ll all be sad to see the seniors go, but we’ll love to watch them leave.” Fellow sophomore Minisha Lohani interjects, “True, but I think this was a really important year for club tennis, and I expect we’ll be able to continue this trend for years to come. This certainly isn’t the end of the road or the climb.”
And perhaps she’s right. They’re close, fun, and exciting to watch. Hopefully the Cats will be around for a while.
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