photo by mvcyclones.com
Aidan Lysouvakon returns a serve.
By Joey Fernandez, Sports Editor
Entering Thursday third in the conference and pursuing a berth at nationals, the Cyclones men’s tennis players wanted to improve their chances by beating Prairie State. They were able to do just that, with a decisive 7-2 victory.
With only the top two teams qualifying for nationals, Coach David Souza knows the players still have some things to work on if they want to perform at regionals this week.
“Overall, we played to our strengths and we played really well to their weaknesses,” Souza said. “I think our doubles could get a little better, but our singles were good.”
Moraine’s depth is what allowed it to dominate Prairie State. Although the matches in the top of the lineups were tightly contested, the matchups at No. 3, 4, 5, and 6 singles and at No. 3 doubles were blowout wins for the Cyclones.
Standout sophomore Ali Amer believes today showed the sky’s the limit for the squad after winning his singles and doubles matchups.
“I definitely have improved from last year,” he said. “I’ve played some people that have played in nationals and I’ve won a few of them. Hopefully we go to nationals this year. I feel like we have a pretty good shot.”
Amer’s singles win did not come easy at 7-5, 6-4.
photo by mvcyclones.com
Ali Amer returns a volley during a key match.
Top freshman performer Aidan Lysouvakon credits mid-match adjustments from Coach Souza in his matches that could pay dividends in the long term.
“I didn’t have the greatest serves, so I had to make up for that. Also, I wasn’t doing that great with groundstrokes, so I had to slice everything back and just serve and volley.” Lysouvakon described it as “playing with as much pressure as possible.”
Souza also attested to the improvements Lysouvakon made in between his singles loss and his doubles victory
“I’m very happy with how he was able to adjust with the comments made. Even though the result wasn’t what we were looking for, I still feel he improved as a player.”
In the season as a whole, the Cyclones have been successful, sitting at a 5-2 record with the only losses being to Sauk Valley CC and College of Lake County.
Moraine Valley will look to build upon its success at regionals, which will be hosted on campus on Tuesday.
