Wolves Excited About National Tournament

WESSON – The Co-Lin Men's Tennis team made a deep run in the Region 23 Tournament ultimately falling in the third-place match against Gulf Coast on Saturday, April 20. However, the Wolves still received an invitation to the NJCAA Division I Men's Tennis Tournament in Plano, Texas starting on Monday, May 13.

Head coach Dana Hale says she is excited to see her team play and rise to the challenge in the tournament.

"This will be our first trip to the national tournament since the 2021 season and we are really excited to be going back," stated Hale. "I feel like our guys started playing extremely well in the later part of the season and that peaked during the Region 23 tournament."

"The guys are excited and have been working really hard at practice including while we as a staff were gone with our women's team to their national tournament," added Hale. "I'm looking forward to seeing how well our guys play and hopefully they get some favorable draws in the first round and see how well we play from there."

Coach Hale said she has high expectations for all her players for this tournament.

"We have a couple of freshmen that have really stepped up for this season and they are Robert Adcock from Brookhaven and Simon Cooper from Sumrall," said Hale. "Those two have been starters throughout the season and have both shown improvement all season especially Simon who started in our number six singles spot but has moved up to the number four singles and number two doubles spots for us. We are excited that those two are going to be able to go this season and bring that experience back for next year."

"Landon Banes from Brookhaven has also been good for us all season," said Hale. "He is our sophomore team, and he is quiet, but he takes care of business on the court. These three along with Arne Sohmer (Cologne,Germany), Valentino Millimaci (Rafaela, Argentina), and the rest of our team that will be playing have me very excited about our chances during the tournament."

The tournament will feature individual draws for each player in singles and doubles formats with players earning points for a team total, but Coach Hale says that difference in format will not hinder her players from performing.

"Our guys know they just have to go out there and handle their business because even though the regular season features dual matches it is still just them and their opponent is what really matters," stated Hale. "We hope that each guy can just put their best foot forward and play to the best of their ability which is something we saw with our women's team during their run at the national tournament last week."

The Wolves start their run at the NJCAA Division I National Tennis Tournament on Monday, May 13 in Plano, Texas.