sports 7The Beacon Monday, January 25, 2010

Nationally-ranked men’s tennis team aims higherCollier Rice Contributing Writer

Palm Beach Atlantic University’s men’s tennis squad is hard at work, hoping to build on a successful 2009 campaign. The team recently re-ceived regional and national rank-ings from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association and is ranked 37th in NCAA Division II.

Head coach Chi Ly appreciates the accolades.

“It is exciting to see that we have consistently earned the respect and received the votes for both regional and national rankings,” Ly said.

Sophomore Krasimir Atanasov, ranked 12th regionally and 27th na-tionally in singles, bolsters a strong lineup. Atanasov takes pride in the national rankings as well as the team.

“Knowing that we present Christ and seeing the result of our hard work as a team definitely gives us a reason to take pride from time to time,” he said.

Sophomore Luke Bolanos, along with Atanasov, makes up the 16th ranked doubles team in the region, while the Sailfish are the ninth ranked team overall.

Collegiate team tennis fuses indi-vidual and team matches, creating difficult and rewarding experiences for the players.

“It is different and more reward-ing in a sense because everybody supports and encourages each other in hard moments but, it is also hard because we are different and it is never easy to confront each other’s shortcomings in order to improve as a team,” Atanasov said.

Bolanos uses the format to stay fo-cused and on top of his game.

“It keeps me more motivated to do my best and fight for every point be-cause you have seven other guys on your side,” Bolanos said.

The team will certainly have to pick each other up as the South Region again proves to be one of the tough-est. Armstrong Atlantic holds the top spot, while Barry University and number-three ranked Lynn Universi-ty, 2009’s South Region Title holder, also provide stiff competition.

Sophomore Nick Hines relishes his opportunity to play for the Sailfish, against top competition.

“Florida tennis is some of the most competitive in the nation; we get to play some of the best ranked teams in the country,” Hines said.

PBA’s season starts Feb. 5 with a 4 p.m. match at Flagler College. The Sailfish will have to wait until March 2 for the 4 p.m. home opener against St. Vincent’s at Gaines Park.

Jocelyn Martinez Contributing Writer

Returning tennis coach Chi Ly has been preparing the Palm Beach Atlantic University’s women’s ten-nis team for their first match Feb. 3, when they will host Florida Tech.

In previous years the team knew what to expect, but they have had some new changes for this upcom-ing season. Placing second in the Na-tional Christian College Athletic As-sociation last year with a final record of 16-11, they can only hope to do as well, if not better, this year.

With only three returning players and a new assistant coach, Jack Sahl-man, the season will be an experi-ence, but the team will stay positive that they will succeed regardless.

“I am very excited for this upcom-ing season,” Ly said. “We have some new faces on the team so there will be some adjustments.”

Team Captain Natalie Aleman, one of the three returning players, said, “This is my final tennis season here at PBA and I am very excited to see how our team this year will end up. We have a bunch of new faces to the team and everyone has great work ethic which will give us a great ad-vantage in the end.”

Lina Rubiano and Amber Braaten are the other two returning players. At first seed is Rubiano and second

seed is Aleman, both on their third year playing together as doubles partners.

Along with the returning trio, there is also a new recruit from the wom-en’s basketball team, Natalia Trotter.

Not only does this team focus on their skill, but also on each other. “I love the girls,” said Braaten. “We are very close knit.”

The team will spend a minimum of two hours a day together. With weekday practices, the addition of Saturday practices and two to three matches a week, they are together often.

“We are like an unofficial family,” Braaten said. “Even Coach says it.”

The girls look forward to the matches they play — especially tour-naments.

This spring break, the girls have a tournament scheduled and they are very excited about it.

“Spring break is going to be a lot of fun,” Braaten said. While other col-lege students have other things on their minds for the week-long vaca-tion, these girls have something else to prepare for: “We have a tourna-ment.”

With new faces and positions, this team is preparing for another great season.

“I believe that the team will gel and come together to compete for the Na-tional Championship,” Ly said.

Junior Luke Bolanos is a key threat for the men’s tennis team this season. collier rice/ contributing photographer

Senior Natalie Aleman will provide leadership as one of only three returning players. lori richards / contributing photographer

New faces added to women’s tennis team