No second-year slump for Harris

To start off his freshman season last year, Tim Harris struggled, like many freshmen do transitioning to the college game. He finished the Presidents’ Athletic Conference regular season 5-7, 2-5 in PAC play, playing mainly second-singles.
Harris entered the PAC Championships as a No. 7 seed (out of eight) and won two matches before being defeated in the finals. Last year’s doubles partner, then-junior Isaiah Cochran, also made it to the finals as a lower seed in the PAC Championships in first-doubles.
This season, Harris is 7-4 in second-singles, while accumulating a 4-1 record in the PAC.
“Last year, I was a freshman, so I came in not knowing what to expect,” Harris said. “I had a different game style last year. I kind of just hit hard and wouldn’t really think when I played. Then last year in the [PAC] tournament, [head coach Mark Christman] started to have me playing smart tennis by using directionals, coming to the net, using the angles. I can tell just by my performance that it’s made a big difference.”
Christman said Harris came to Waynesburg with good training and experience. He believes the biggest transition for Harris — which is similar for many student-athletes — is adjusting to college play.
“He owns big shots. He can hit the ball hard, very hard,” Christman said. “He probably hits his ball as hard as anyone in the conference. It’s just learning how to use that power, and to learn the strokes you need to set up points. You can’t just hit the ball hard and expect to win. There are too many good players who can play that pace. I call it the difference between being a ‘hitter’ and being a ‘player.’ He’s growing as a ‘player.’ He’s just getting better and better as a ‘player.'”
The adjustment to becoming more of a “player” than a “hitter” has taken place in practice for Harris.
“I am actually implementing the things we do in practice,” Harris said. “Coach [Christman] has us do things in practice, and I have actually been doing it in the match and listening to him. For me, he’s really changed my game style, and it’s working.”
“In the heat of battle, when you get a little pressure on you, you become unsure of what you were just working on and go back to what you did before. That’s the key. Can you make yourself keep doing the things you’ve been doing instead of reverting back to what you used to do?”
Harris is thankful to have Christman as his coach to instill the knowledge and the confidence in himself that he needed.
“He’s really helped me mature,” Harris said. “We do get frustrated and argue sometimes, but that’s normal for a coach and a player. He really looks out for me, and he helps me and tells me what I need to do for a match against a certain opponent so I can be successful in beating them.”
As Waynesburg’s first doubles team, Harris and Cochran are 4-6 on the season, but have a 3-2 record in PAC play.
Harris said that last year the duo were getting used to playing with each other, but as their relationship has grown, their play has improved.
Christman has high hopes for his top doubles duo if they continue to progress on the things they have been working on in practice.
“Tim and Isaiah are two very quick players, and physically–with the tools they own–could easily be the number-one doubles team in the conference,” Christman said. “Tim has to work on his volley, on his shot selection and knowing he can depend on his partner. If you’re serving or returning serve, your job is not to win the point; your job is to make your partner the hero. You want to hit a serve that forces a weaker return, so like in [Harris] and [Cochran’s] case, [Harris] sets up [Cochran] to put a ball away.”
Harris’ goal is to be a number-two seed in the PAC Championships and get back to the finals.
Christman is confident Harris will succeed in the tournament after surprising him last season and winning two matches in both singles and doubles.
“He has a chance to win at second-singles, and they have a chance to win at first-doubles,” Christman said. “You got to the finals last year, there’s no reason you can’t do it again this year and pull it out.”