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For eight days, three New Mexico tennis players will take their talents to the ITA All American Championships.
The tournament, held in Pacific Palisades, Calif. for the women and in Tulsa, Okla. For the men, starts Saturday and only invites All-American caliber players to the scene, most of whom were selected for their play in the 2011-2012 season.
On the women’s side, junior Michaela Bezdickova will compete in the singles tournament. For the men, seniors Jadon Phillips and Conor Berg will team up in the doubles tournament. Phillips will also participate in the singles competition.
Bezdickova went 21-9 in singles matches in 2011 and was named to the 2011 All-Mountain West team for singles.
Women’s first-year coach Erica Perkins Jasper said the tournament will be a new and challenging competition for Bezdickova.
“It’s a great opportunity that she earned through last year,” Perkins Jasper said. “For her, it will be her first national event. She will be able to play some players at a high level, so she can test herself against some national-level competition.”
The Phillips-Berg pair was nationally ranked No. 58 at the start of the season. Men’s 16-year head coach Alan Dils said he considers them a potential threat in the tournament.
“That doubles pair is interesting because this is their first year playing together even though they are both seniors,” Dils said. “I’m excited to see them play because they are going to be really good doubles players. They have showed that in the invitationals and have gotten better and better. I wouldn’t be surprised if they are a great pair and get deep in the tournament.”
Individually, Phillips is ranked No. 117 in the nation. Dils said Phillips is battling knee tendonitis, but it should not prevent him from playing in the invitational.
Individual invitationals and tournaments take place in the fall, while team matches occur in the spring portion of the schedule.
In 2011, the men’s team had a 19-8 record and was ranked No. 68 at the end of the season. This year, Dils said he expects every player to improve.
“We want to get a lot of experience in this year,” Dils said. “We have a number of players that are playing and trying to step up. We just have to do the little things right and be disciplined.”
The men’s squad had three seniors graduate last year: Phil Anderson, Ben Dunbar and Carl Ho. But Dils said he refuses to use those departures as an excuse.
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“We know what it takes to win. We want to win. We lost some good seniors, so our goal is to get some guys to develop and build some confidence,” he said. “But just because we lost those seniors doesn’t mean we can’t win this year. Our guys have to be hungry, and I think they are.”
For the women, the team went 8-13 in 2011. But with new coach Perkins Jasper, the team wants to change the attitude and results this year.
