AZTEC TENNIS REPORTER: We’re here at the last match of the regular season. What have you taken from it? What do you want your players to take from it?
GENE CARSWELL: Well, I can say this. While we haven’t come out on the top side of all the matches that we would’ve liked to have, we’ve been learning throughout this process. We’ve got a lot of youth in the lineup. We’ve dealt with some adversity, with some injuries. We know that within our conference, there’s not a team that isn’t beatable.
And so, a lot of what we’ve got in front of us is within our control, and that’s not a bad place to be. Having the guys believe that, and understand that, and continue to make the improvement, so they see that when they’re making improvements, it impacts how we do and how we end up at the end of a match is really paramount to our future success. And so, I’ll just say this: Don’t count us out.
ATR: What are the prospects for the league championship tournament now?
GENE CARSWELL: I really feel like our destiny is in our hands. Boise State is probably going to be the one seed. I mean, it still will be determined by what happens today, but I believe they’re going to be the one seed. We won the doubles point against them.
And we had…4 matches that were in 3 sets. So, even if we didn’t win the doubles point, if we can find a way to win matches where we win one set, we end up winning the match. So, I feel like, you know, with our young group, that’s what you get. Sometimes you get some elevated, excited results, where the guys really perform maybe a little bit above where you think they might be, and then sometimes, because they’re young, sometimes they don’t quite make the mark that you thought they were going to make. But my goal for the guys is to peak at the end of the season, and that’s always been what we want to do, and we’re continuing to work towards that, and hopefully, we see.
ATR: How do you view your prospects for next year?
GENE CARSWELL: Very good. We already have, actually, a couple commitments that are going to help this team significantly, and we’re not even at the point where the transfer portal is open. So, we’ll have more, probably, to report…give me about 4, 5, 6 weeks, and we’ll see who all will be joining this team.
ATR: And you have one new recruit from San Diego.
GENE CARSWELL: We do. Yes. We signed William Kleege. William just made the finals of Easter Bowl doubles, which Easter Bowl is one of the US National Championships, San Diego kid, great to keep a San Diego kid at home. William’s going to be, I think, a fantastic addition, just from the standpoint of big kid. I think he’s like 6 foot 6 or 7, already very, very proficient on the doubles side, and he’s just going to keep blossoming in the college game.
GENE CARSWELL: We’ve got some big guys on the team. Sometimes it works like that. We’ve had some height on the team in the past, as well, but we are excited about the addition of William.
ATR: Was that by accident or were you looking for tall people?
GENE CARSWELL: We’re looking for good people, and William’s good.