While the majority of the student body will leave for spring break sometime in the next few days, the men’s and women’s tennis teams will embark on separate trips on which they will train and play against top competition. While the men’s trip to Texas and the women’s trip to Florida may seem like vacations, the coaches intend to train harder than ever.
“It’s not really a spring break for our guys,” men’s head tennis coach Bid Goswami said. “We get in on Saturday and practice one session, then two more practice sessions on Sunday, and one more on Monday. Then we play matches Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday, and I am trying to get one more for Thursday or Friday as well.”
The men’s schedule over break features two matches against ranked teams. First up for Columbia will be Texas Christian University, currently ranked 29th nationally.
“Texas Christian is a school which we have never played,” Goswami said. “But I think it should present a good challenge for us.”
Next up for the Lions will be the Southern Methodist University Mustangs, who currently sit at number 65 in the college men’s tennis rankings. The Mustangs are a foe that the Lions have often faced but without any results.
“Southern Methodist is a team that we play often but we have never beaten,” Goswami said. “They are very good this year as they are ranked, but last year we had a match point, but ended up losing 4-3. I am hoping we can turn that around this year.”
Finally, Columbia will be taking on University of Texas-Arlington, a team that Columbia defeated 5-1 during last year’s spring break trip.
In terms of the team’s training, coach Goswami would like to see the team improve its outdoor performance.
“Here at Columbia, we only have indoor courts, so when we have to play outdoors during the Ivy season, it can be a rough transition,” the head coach said.
In addition, the fact that two of the Lions’ opponents are relatively highly ranked should provide a boost for Columbia in the rankings if it were to defeat either of the teams.
“In order to get ranked, you need to beat a ranked team,” Goswami continued. “The tough competition should make us match ready, and if we can win one of the matches against ranked teams, we have a chance at a national ranking.”
Yet the coach and the team have their eyes on the upcoming Ivy season, which is drawing ever closer.
“We play Cornell on the road the following weekend [March 29], so we are hoping that this trip will help us peak in time for the Ivy season.”
The women’s team, on the other hand, will be looking to rebound from three matches, in which it was unable to field a competitive team due to injuries. First-year head coach Ilene Weintraub plans to use the team’s trip to Florida to train the team into top shape.
“We are going to use spring break as a training trip,” Weintraub said. “We want to get ourselves in top shape for the Ivy League season.
The team will be training twice a day for the beginning of the trip and will then take on some of the best teams in Division II. The women will first play Barry University, which comes into the match ranked 14th in the nation in Division II after an upset of the fifth-ranked University of West Florida.
The team will next play Lynn University, currently ranked third in the country in Division II. Finally, the team will end its hectic spring break schedule with a match against unranked Florida Atlantic University. Coach Weintraub hopes that the matches will prove tough and competitive for the Lions.
“I think that the level is good enough so that we should be challenged,” Weintraub said. “But I hope that we can get some wins and begin to build up our confidence.”