I recently relocated to Charlotte, NC to take on a new job. I lived in Charlotte from 1999 through 2002 and that was the time when I was introduced to college tennis at the University of North Carolina Charlotte and at Davidson College. Today I made my first visit back to UNCC to see a tennis match since I left.
UNC Charlotte hosted Pfeiffer University, a Division II school in North Carolina, in the second match of a double-header on campus today. I was surprised to see the Pfeiffer team take the doubles point on Charlotte. At number one and number two doubles, Pfeiffer won 8-1. That would be all for the Falcons as UNCC ended up winning all the singles matches and took the match 6-1. Earlier they beat Johnson C. Smith University 7-0. With the two wins, UNCC goes to 3-5 on the season. It will be interesting to see how the Forty Niners do once they get in to Atlantic 10 league play. Last season the team made the NCAA tournament for the first time.
What a great day in Charlotte. It was in the low 60s and the skies were clear and sunny. The real story of the day today was the wind. Thoughout the entire match a stiff wind created a difficult situation for the players. A lot of groundstroke balls were flying deep and when the players got the ball high enough in the air it was almost like the ball hit a wall and came down. It was crazy. The players were asked to keep their tennis bags on their chairs during play so the chairs would not blow onto the court. Early in the number two doubles match, a Pfeiffer team member had his hat blow off his head and then the two teams played through the point. The official then warned them that the next time that happened a point would be lost. I did see one of the plastic chairs get blown about a foot while a game was being played. I don't think I have ever been at a match where the wind gusts were so fierce.
It certainly made things interesting.
Time.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Starting the College Season at Stanford
On Saturday, February 2, I made a trip to the Taube Tennis Center on the campus of Stanford University to see the Stanford men take on the #6 ranked University of Southern California Trojans. Once I knew I would be traveling to Palo Alto and San Jose for a business meeting, I looked on the Stanford site to see if they had any home matches scheduled. As fate would have it, I was rewarded as my trip coincided with the Cardinal taking on the Trojans. Although Stanford was ranked #42 going into the match, this is the place where the standard for college tennis excellence has been established.
The match was initially scheduled for 1 p.m., but due to the threat of rain the match was moved up to 12:30 and the teams started the day by playing the singles first. I arrived at the end of the first set and at that time USC was in control. I focused on the one match where Stanford had the lead which was at No. 1 singles. Stanford's Alex Clayton, ranked #2 in the NCAA beat ninth ranked Robert Farah in straight sets for Stanford's only win on the day. Clayton has a fantastic one-handed backhand and it was a real treat to watch him use it effectively against Farah. Stanford ended up losing the match 5-1, as rain started to make its way into the area and the teams decided not to play the doubles point. I was disappointed, as doubles are my favorite part of a college match.
The real highlight of the day turned out to be a brief conversation I had with former Stanford head coach Dick Gould. Coach Gould is a great guy and over the course of his career did so much to strengthen the game of college tennis. I am glad I had the chance to meet him and thank him for all he has done for the game. In his 38 years of coaching his teams won the national championship 17 times. That is simply a record of success few coaches could ever hope to achieve. Wow! Coach Gould retired after the 2003-04 season and is currently the director of tennis for Stanford. He is a fixture at Stanford's home matches, so be on the lookout for him if you are at the Taube Tennis Center.
Speaking of the Stanford tennis facility, it is really a world class college tennis facility. You are right on top of the action no matter where you sit and I learned from one of the ushers that the stands get filled for matches regularly, especially when the team is one of the top teams in the country. Inside the facility is a trophy room and the walls are filled with national championship awards of all kinds from the men's and women's programs. Stanford is simply the standard for college tennis excellence and you can see it all right there in the trophy room. It is very impressive.
I was able to return to the facility at the end of the week and had the chance to see the men's team practice for their upcoming match the following day against BYU. I also watched the BYU team go through its practice session before I headed over to the Maples Pavillion right next door to see the No. 9 Stanford men's basketball team beat Oregon by nearly 30 points. The basketball facility is also great and both the Stanford men and women are in the top 10 right now. The tradition of excellence really encompasses so many sports at Stanford.
Stanford ended up beating BYU 7-0 the day I left town.
I look forward to the next opportunity I have to watch Stanford tennis on campus. It is a great experience.
Time.
The match was initially scheduled for 1 p.m., but due to the threat of rain the match was moved up to 12:30 and the teams started the day by playing the singles first. I arrived at the end of the first set and at that time USC was in control. I focused on the one match where Stanford had the lead which was at No. 1 singles. Stanford's Alex Clayton, ranked #2 in the NCAA beat ninth ranked Robert Farah in straight sets for Stanford's only win on the day. Clayton has a fantastic one-handed backhand and it was a real treat to watch him use it effectively against Farah. Stanford ended up losing the match 5-1, as rain started to make its way into the area and the teams decided not to play the doubles point. I was disappointed, as doubles are my favorite part of a college match.
The real highlight of the day turned out to be a brief conversation I had with former Stanford head coach Dick Gould. Coach Gould is a great guy and over the course of his career did so much to strengthen the game of college tennis. I am glad I had the chance to meet him and thank him for all he has done for the game. In his 38 years of coaching his teams won the national championship 17 times. That is simply a record of success few coaches could ever hope to achieve. Wow! Coach Gould retired after the 2003-04 season and is currently the director of tennis for Stanford. He is a fixture at Stanford's home matches, so be on the lookout for him if you are at the Taube Tennis Center.
Speaking of the Stanford tennis facility, it is really a world class college tennis facility. You are right on top of the action no matter where you sit and I learned from one of the ushers that the stands get filled for matches regularly, especially when the team is one of the top teams in the country. Inside the facility is a trophy room and the walls are filled with national championship awards of all kinds from the men's and women's programs. Stanford is simply the standard for college tennis excellence and you can see it all right there in the trophy room. It is very impressive.
I was able to return to the facility at the end of the week and had the chance to see the men's team practice for their upcoming match the following day against BYU. I also watched the BYU team go through its practice session before I headed over to the Maples Pavillion right next door to see the No. 9 Stanford men's basketball team beat Oregon by nearly 30 points. The basketball facility is also great and both the Stanford men and women are in the top 10 right now. The tradition of excellence really encompasses so many sports at Stanford.
Stanford ended up beating BYU 7-0 the day I left town.
I look forward to the next opportunity I have to watch Stanford tennis on campus. It is a great experience.
Time.
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