TAT: Men's Tennis Begins Season with Trip to Omaha

This article originally appeared online on January 17, 2013 on The Arkansas Traveler website (uatrav.com).

The Arkansas men’s tennis team will begin the season ranked No. 56 in the country, with hopes of improving their ranking as the season progresses.

“Some people say (the No. 56 ranking) is pretty good, but that’s not where we want to be,” UA head coach Robert Cox said. “We want to be back up in the top 25 by the year’s end, maybe even higher.”

The road to a higher ranking will be difficult for the Razorbacks, as all 12 Southeastern Conference teams rank ahead of them (Missouri does not have a men’s tennis team).
Eight of the 12 teams are in the top 25, including Georgia and Kentucky in the top 10, at No. 6 and No. 9, respectively.

“Earning a high ranking at the end of the year is very doable,” Cox said. “We have the schedule to do it and the team to do it.”

Before beginning SEC play, they must first go through a tough nonconference schedule, which begins this weekend in Omaha, Neb.

The Razorbacks will take on Division I newcomer Nebraska-Omaha and a young South Dakota State team.

“It’s very unusual that we’re making a road trip on the first weekend,” Cox said. “We’re playing two teams we really don’t know much about on paper, but we’re just going to worry about us.”

Cox hopes the long road trip will allow his team to bond and provide an opportunity to improve.

With the graduation of last year’s seniors Taj Harrison, Matt Walters and Nikolas Zogaj, the Razorbacks lost three natural leaders. So far this season, however, no one has stepped up and filled in that role, but that does not concern Cox.

“This team may not have any ‘captains,’ which is very unusual, but I’m not too worried about it,” Cox said. “We get along well and everyone steps up in a different way.”

On the court, Cox believes his players had a solid fall season and expects them to get better in Omaha.

Junior Manfred Jeske played “really well in the fall,” Cox said, as well as senior Hall Fess.

Arkansas will also have senior Mike Ward back after he missed time this fall with an injury.

Along with improving their ranking, Cox’s goal for the team is to make it back to the NCAA Tournament in May. Last year, the Razorbacks were only a couple matches away from making the tournament.

They will face Nebraska-Omaha and South Dakota State at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., respectively, this Sunday.