Mar 20, 2017 By Joe Smeltzer staff Writer 4 min read

The Waynesburg University men’s tennis team split two contests this past weekend, as it defeated Muskingum 9-0 on Friday, March 17, and fell to Thomas More 8-1 on Saturday, March 18.

Friday’s contest was a solid showing from the Jackets, as all six competitors won both singles and doubles matches. Freshman Tanner McKnight and James Zeremenko, sophomore Jonah Cooper and Josh Denham and junior Adam McKnight were all victorious.

“Friday, I thought we played really well,” said head coach Ron Headlee. “We played in like a gym area with a tile floor, and it was, I guess, a little bit harder for us to adjust to play. But I thought our guys all played up to their level on Friday.”

Jonah Cooper, who is Waynesburg’s No. 1 singles player as a sophomore, was awarded Player of the Week from the Presidents’ Athletic conference for his contributions and said the success on Friday was simple.

“We just played our game,” said Cooper. “Everyone won their matches. It was just a straightforward deal.”

Cooper cited the strength of Thomas More as a reason for the varying results in the two matches.

“[Thomas More] was pretty good on Saturday,” said Cooper. “They were a lot better than they were last year. They posed a good challenge for us, and that’s just the way it goes sometimes.”

Despite the team’s defeat, Cooper was successful individually on Saturday, as he defeated Thomas More’s Derrick Kwoak, who is the reigning Presidents’ Athletic Conference Player of the Week.

“We kind of just went back and forth for the first set, until finally I got a break and won the first set,” said Cooper. “I think after that, that was a big confidence booster for me, and a big upset for him, because after that game, I was able to capitalize on my serve. It was a really fun match, just a big service battle back and forth. I love those matches.”

For Headlee, a key point for Cooper to focus on will be having the patience to wait for his opponent to make a mistake.

“We’ve talked about [Cooper] just being patient with his shots and staying in the games as long as he can,” said Headlee. “I think sometimes he just relies on his serve a little bit too much, but he has really good strokes. He said he adjusted and started letting [Kwoak] make mistakes, and it worked out really well for him.”

Cooper said his serving is something he can build on.

“For me, serve consistency is a big thing,” said Cooper. “There will be some matches where I’ve got really good consistency, and there will be some matches where the serve consistency is way off. So I just need to be honest with myself and say, ‘I need to work on my serve.'”

Headlee sees patience, as well as jelling as a team, as points to improve on as the season moves forward.

“With the doubles, just getting used to playing with each other [is key],” said Headlee.

“It takes some time to get to know each other, [such as] what they’re strengths and weaknesses are. I just think being patient and just working our shots in. In our individual matches, we’ve been mainly on the deep end trying to cut down on our unforced errors.”

For Cooper, serving is a point of emphasis for the team in general, not just himself.

“We have to be serious about holding our serve,” said Cooper. “We have to be serious about working on the parts of the game and being honest with ourselves about what we should work on.”

Waynesburg will be in action again on Tuesday, March 28, when it plays host to Thiel at 3:30 p.m.