Collin College tennis player readying a backhand
Collin College Tennis hosted the SW JUCO tournament in mid-April, allowing the Cougars to tune up for regional play.

TENNIS TEAMS CLAIM REGIONAL TITLES

(Above) Collin College Tennis hosted the SW JUCO tournament in mid-April, allowing the Cougars to tune up for regional play. More photos at bottom.

Collin College Tennis closed out its regular season on a high note after claiming both the men’s and women’s National Junior College Athletic Association Region V Division I titles in late April.

“We are on an upswing and playing positively,” Coach Marty Berryman said. “I felt we did an outstanding job at regionals.”

Collin’s men faced off against New Mexico Military Institute and came out with a 7-2 win, with the Cougars’ No. 1 doubles team – Daniel Stormon and Akinori Wada – leading the way. Coach Berryman said the pair raised their level of play in their face-off with NMMI.

“By winning that match, it gave us a really solid base going into the singles,” Berryman said.

The women’s team defeated North Central 6-3 and also topped NMMI, ultimately taking the match 6-3 to claim the regional title. The women’s team put up a 12-9 regular season record. They will play at nationals, May 7-11, in Tucson, Ariz.

The men’s team was 10-8 for the season and will play in national competition, May 15-19 at Collin College, which is hosting the national tournament this year.

Coach Berryman believes the teams may still finish ranked top 10 in the nation if they continue to play the way they have been.

“We have our work cut out for us, because there are a lot of tough teams out there, both on the men’s and women’s sides,” he said, adding that his freshmen players are performing well. “They have learned a lot and matured a lot throughout the year. They are a very competitive bunch.”

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