After hosting the ITA Indoor Championships, in which the Washington men’s tennis team went 0-3, the Huskies (6-4) are trying to balance looking back at the tournament and preparing for a matchup against crosstown opponent Seattle.
The focus early on in the week has been spent on looking back at the tournament and seeing what went wrong and how to improve as opposed to planning for the Redhawks. That will change as the week progresses.
“Right now my entire focus is on our own guys because I think there are a lot of valuable lessons from the tournament,” head coach Matt Anger said. “That’s one of the best things about playing in a tournament like that. Win or lose you are benefiting from going through the matches and that process. I want to make sure we are taking advantage of it and we’re better for it.”
It was definitely a learning experience for the Dawgs and something they can work on going forward.
“We know we were playing against top teams in the country, that competition is good for us, and we know we are right there,” Anger said. “A lot of it is looking back at our team and at our guys individually and figuring out how to bridge the gap.”
One of just two Huskies to win a match during the tournament was senior Mitch Stewart. The win propelled him to No. 57 in the latest set of rankings released this week. The senior has taken strides to improve this year, but it is about more than just him individually.
“It was very nice to be ranked in singles, but my ultimate goal is for the team,” Stewart said. “I am proud of myself to have a ranking now. I still feel like I can do better and do better to help the team as well.”
The difficult weekend put things in perspective for the players and gave them goals to work on going forward.
“I think going forward we want to all stay healthy, stay fit, and keep listening to coach,” Stewart said. “We want to continue to get better. We have a lot of season left to go, starting with Seattle on Saturday, and we want to improve more and more every day.”
This Saturday marks the seventh consecutive year the Huskies and the 5-4 Redhawks have squared off. The Huskies are 50-3 all-time in the matchup.
Reach reporter Kyle Gehler at sports@dailyuw.com. Twitter:@KyleGehler
