Pride Men’s Tennis is having its best season since 2016-17.

The team is 10-5, with the season stretching to mid-April. That is a significant improvement over last year’s 6-9 record and its 3-13 performance in 2021-22.

“We have done very well as a team,” said junior Samuel Dickson, a Mechanical Engineering major and the team’s captain.

As conference-ranked matches began on March 17, the team has turned its focus to securing a good placement in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament on April 26.

“I hope we can do a really good job and hopefully win the conference tournament,” Dickson said. “That’s my goal right now: Win the conference tournament, which I think we can do.

“With tennis, I want to get this team to a higher standard and win many awards and matches to show who we are, and the feeling that I get from this is very satisfying,” Dickson said.

Dickson came to PNW from Florida in 2022 to further his academic and athletic interests. He said tennis has played a large role in shaping the person he is today. 

“Tennis has helped me academically in many ways, especially to be responsible with my assignments and it has shown me to work well with others …, and become a better person,” he said.

After three years on the tennis team, Dickson was named team captain last semester. 

“To be a captain is not that easy because everyone comes to you if there’s anything and the pressure is tough, but my teammates are really good teammates,” he said. “We are literally a family, so it’s really easy to talk to them, and we can always rely on each other.”

Head Coach Selenay Heper, who returned to PNW just two months ago, after being away for four years is enthusiastic about the team’s prospects.

“I think the biggest [change] is the team dynamic,” she said. “I think they’re doing a great job, their dynamic, their mindset, how they support each other, and how they fight is definitely outstanding at the moment.

“I’m really excited for what’s going to come up with this conference,” Heper said. “I think we can achieve great things.”

Heper said she is especially impressed by the players’ mental toughness, which is critical on the court. 

“It’s a very individual sport, you play by yourself on the court so you just have to be mentally tough from [the] first point to the last point,” she said. “You cannot slack, you cannot let it go for a couple of games and try to come back. …It doesn’t work like that.

“When on the court, we fight from the beginning until the end,” ´said Heper. “I’m really proud of them!”