Rockets Head to Evanston to Continue Hunt for Success
10/1/2009 6:00:00 PM | Men's Tennis
TOLEDO, OH - After enjoying a lot of triumphs at their first two fall tournaments, the question that head men's tennis coach Al Wermer has for his team is simple.
Are they still hungry enough to stay competitive?
"As the quote goes, 'Stay hungry, stay fed,' and our guys will find out this weekend if they are now more the hunted or still have the attitude of the hunter," Wermer said.
The Rockets will compete at the Wildcat Invitational, hosted by Northwestern, this weekend in Evanston, IL. Also slated to play are Marquette, Ball State, Purdue, Wisconsin, Iowa, DePaul, Drake, and Western Michigan.
Toledo has been led by the doubles tandem of junior Sven Burus (Slavonski Brod, Croatia) and sophomore Robbie McCallum (Toronto, Ontario). They have won all seven doubles matches this fall, including capturing the "A" Flight championship at Michigan State's Frank Beeman Invitational on Sept. 20.
They've also played well individually as well, as Burus has won all three of his singles matches and McCallum has gone 3-1.
Other notable performers for the Rockets include junior Knot Likitkumchorn (Yala, Thailand), who has gone 5-2 in singles; redshirt sophomore Leo Sarria (Cali, Colombia), who in his first season with the team has also gone 5-2 in singles; and junior Leonardo Henriques (Sao Paulo, Brazil) and freshman Terence Weigand (Winter Springs, FL), who are both 4-1 in singles.
For the fall, the Rockets have gone 31-12 in singles matches, a .721 winning percentage, and 17-6 in doubles, a .739 winning clip.
"Going into this fall, I thought these players were fit and ready," Wermer said. "And we've seen quite a bit of progress on-court with our workouts, which have generally been terrific. Having said all that, I believe most of our players are up for a greater challenge this weekend, and expect to be all the more mentally strong as each day goes by."
The three-day tournament, which starts Friday, is the last for the Rockets before they wrap up their fall season at the ITA Regionals Oct. 15-19 in Ann Arbor, MI.
Contact: Scott Milesscott.miles@utoledo.edu
Players Mentioned
