2023 'Roo Tennis Preview

SHERMAN, Texas - The Austin College men's and women's tennis teams enter a new era in the 2023 campaign as Syvoney Ybarra begins her first season as the head coach of both programs, with the 'Roos looking to move up the ranks in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference standings this spring.

The 'Roo men are coming off of a season in which they finished 1-13 while the women went 1-11 in 2022, with both teams featuring a mixture of experienced returners and talented newcomers. Tate Nelson returns for his senior season on the men's side after leading the 'Roos with a pair of singles victories last year, picking up wins on both the second and third line. Nelson also teamed with junior Luke Henley to earn two doubles victories on line one.

Henley is back after featuring as the team's line one singles player last year, and he and Nelson are also joined by junior Jay Carrillo, as well as sophomores Yudai Abe, Trey Salyer, and AJ Wueste as 'Roos who will take the court with solid collegiate experience under their belts. Wueste and Salyer each notched singles wins in SCAC play a year ago, and will look to build on those victories heading into 2023. New to the team this year are Matthew Fuhr, a transfer from East Texas Baptist, as well as Mark Lobdell.

On the women's side, the 'Roos will be led by a strong group of sophomores including Kylie Imperial, who won a pair of matches at flight two singles and was a part of four line one doubles victories, as well as Bailey Standokes and Tara Tran. Junior Sierra Thomas brings experience to the team, having picked up a SCAC win at line four singles while also consistently competing alongside Standokes on line two in doubles competition.

The sophomore class is rounded out by Abigail Le and Karina Alvarez, while a pair of seniors join the squad this year, including Cynthia Zapata and Maya Leisey. Leisey returns to the team after a year off in 2022, having competed for the 'Roos during her first two years at Austin College. During the 2021 campaign, she helped earn a pair of line two doubles wins while also playing on line three in singles action.

The 'Roos open up the spring season next weekend, when they host Texas A&M-Texarkana on February 4 at 1:00 p.m.