Sumter, S.C. – Gustavus men’s tennis players Motasem Al-Houni (Sr., Tripoli, Libya) and Andres Saenz (So., Cancun, Mexico) competed at the USTA/ITA National Small College Championships that were held this past Wednesday through Sunday at the Palmetto Tennis Center. Al-Houni and Saenz earned a bid into the tournament by winning the USTA/ITA Midwest Regional Championships held in St. Peter on Sept. 19-21.
“This was a great experience for Mota and Andres, just to be in this event and compete against that level of competition,” said head coach Tommy Valentini. “I think both guys learned a lot about themselves that they’ll be able to bring back to the rest of the team and make us better as a whole.”
In doubles action, Al-Houni and Saenz took sixth place out of eight teams. In their first match, the fourth-seeded Al-Houni and Saenz faced unseeded Ben Foran and Matt Heinrich of Stevens Institute of Technology and fell 6-2, 6-1. That set up a consolation semifinal match with No. 1 seeded Michael Buxbaum and Emerson Walsh of Johns Hopkins where Al-Houni and Saenz took home a 6-3, 6-2 victory. The pair then took on Alex Ruderman and Ian Wagner of Emory University and played a competitive match, but ended up on the losing end in a 2-6, 6-2 (5-10) defeat.
“A big step for both those guys in understanding that level of competition,” said Valentini. “They played a very aggressive team from Stevens in the first round and lost, but I was thrilled with how they bounced back and competed with energy and heart in the second round. That second round win against Johns Hopkins was a huge accomplishment…taking out the No. 1 seed of the whole event is no small feat, so I was very proud with how they composed themselves in that match. Then in their third match against Emory, it was a tale of two sets. Emory really came out swinging in the first set and took it, but Mota and Andres responded nicely to being down a set and an early break to a top-ranked national team. They rattled off six straight games and just really played some outstanding tennis to give themselves momentum heading into the tiebreaker, which unfortunately didn’t go our way. But I thought they competed extremely well and made great adjustments in terms of their tactics and really chose to stay positive and compete with a high level of energy which gave them a chance to be competitive in that match.”
In singles action, Al-Houni took eighth place after being defeated in three straight matches. In his first round, Al-Houni took on the second-seeded Buxbaum of Johns Hopkins and fell 6-3, 6-3. He then faced Adam Krull of Trinity College and fell 6-3, 6-1 before falling in the seventh place match to Glenn Hull of Claremont Mudd-Scripps 6-2, 6-3.
“This was a tournament where Mota started to recognize what he is capable of but also recognize some areas where his game can continue to grow,” said Valentini. “For him to be competing at this level after being in the lower parts of our lineup at Gustavus as recently as the end of last spring, is quite an achievement for him. I was very pleased with the way Mota carried himself, the way he competed and the way he represented our program and it’s an experience I think he’ll look back on as being an important one for his overall development.”
The tournament marked the end of the fall season for Gustavus. The team will resume its full spring season in February.