Featured photo by Preston Todd
Story by Brett Walker
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MURFREESBORO, Tenn- Middle Tennessee men’s tennis (10-7) is just over halfway through its 2023-2024 campaign. Through their first 17 games, the Blue Raiders have compiled an impressive enough resume to place them at No. 28 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings.
The Blue Raiders were tested on the road very early in the season. Immediately following a close loss to Oklahoma State, MTSU traveled to Fayetteville for a battle with the Arkansas Razorbacks. Head coach Jimmy Borendame felt that the trip to Arkansas and the resulting MTSU win, proved to the Blue Raiders that they were a tough bunch. For the Blue Raiders, the early win against Arkansas offered a taste of what the team could be. If the win at Arkansas was a sample, then their matchup with No. 22 Mississippi State over a week later was a full serving.
“I think so far, the big one, I always think the first solid win of the season is big and I thought that win over Arkansas on the road, in SEC country, was kind of the first legitimate alright we are solid, we are a tough team,” Borendame said. “I think they were the first team out of the NCAA’s last year. They’re a good talented young team and we were on the road at their place. It was actually alumni weekend, so they had a bunch of their former players there. That one was really solid but then really the one that hits the nail on the head for me was the Mississippi State win. I think I was 0-6 or something against Mississippi State, but also had never played them in Murfreesboro. So, that one was really solid.”
Wins against SEC opponents are impressive no doubt. But like any coach, Borendame doesn’t just find value in his team’s wins. Borendame views MTSU’s recent road loss against Auburn as an opportunity to grow.
“I also look back and see some of the losses,” Borendame said. “The loss to Auburn on the road, the first outdoor match, really kind of spurred us to work a couple of things out, and that’s been really pivotal for our growth as a team.
Marcel Kamrowski viewed the Auburn matches in a similar light to his head coach. Kamrowski felt that his best performances of the season came during the team’s back-to-back bouts with the Auburn Tigers.
“I think I would say last week at Blue Gray (Blue Gray Championships) I played a guy from Auburn,” Kamrowski said. “I played him the week before and we didn’t finish, but I was up 4-0 in the third (set). But this time I was able to finish, also in the third set 6-2. I played pretty good tennis last week so I’m happy about it.
Borendame’s “get better every day” mentality has resonated with his players. Despite Kamrowski’s thoughts about his recent performance, he feels he and the team can reach new heights as the season progresses.
“I think there is always parts to improve. I think this team is really competitive on every position, and as we can see most of the guys are playing. I just started playing doubles, so I think this team is pretty competitive and I think we can still improve in a lot of parts,” Kamrowski said. “I think even deeper in the season this team is going to show good tennis and good quality tennis, and I think we still have a lot parts to improve I hope I’m going to see deeper in the season.”
Similar to Kamrowski, sophomore Ondrej Horak also sees his personal improvements as crucial to his success this season. His serve and mobility have become assets for him in his second year at MTSU.
“I think I improved my serve compared to last year. I think I’m doing a better job with movement, last year I was not moving well,” Horak said.
While much improved from his freshman campaign, Horak knows that there are areas he can grow in as the Blue Raiders enter the back end of the season. Horak is focused on further developing his serve and mobility, while also leaning into strategy at critical times to clench wins.
“So definitely movement, volleys, footwork, that’s a big point right there. Strategy, if I’m not playing well how to get the job done. How to get the win when I’m not playing well, and then still working on the serve,” Horak said.
To this point, Borendame has found the strength of his team to be in doubles. The Blue Raiders have accumulated a 27-15 record in doubles this season. Unsurprisingly, in MTSU’s 10 victories, it has won the doubles point in the match nine times.
“Even though we’ve switched some doubles teams around we are pretty darn good in doubles, Borendame said. “I think we’ve lost four doubles points out of 17 matches, so that’s 13 out of 17 doubles points. Which is good, you know, we practice it a lot. We’ve got a lot of depth, all the way down to No. 10, can all play. This group is definitely coachable, so we’ve made adjustments throughout the season, and I’ve been very happy with those adjustments. And last, I would say, we keep getting better, so, I don’t know if we’ve played one match yet where we’re clicking on all cylinders, and you know I’m waiting for it, and trying to be patient.”
MTSU looks to lean on its potent doubles teams as it inches closer to the end of the regular season. Even with the Conference USA Tournament in sight, Borendame wants his team to stay focused and take one game at a time.
“I think we just try to take one match at a time, I never try to get too far ahead of ourselves, Borendame said. “We’re playing really good doubles, we’ve one four doubles points in a row with these new teams. That was a tough loss against Cornell, but I actually thought that they played well at the big moments. So, today we just kind of worked on trying to get a little bit better. We don’t deviate from what we’re doing in practice on big key points. I just try to take one day at a time I don’t try to think of the season in big chunks or anything like that. The conference tournament will come and when it comes, we’ll be ready. Right now, the plan is to just get ready for a good Texas Tech team on Friday.”
Brett Walker is a sportswriter for MTSU Sidelines. For more news, visit www.mtsusidelines.com. Also, follow us on Facebook and Instagram @mtsusidelines, or on X @MTSUSidelines.
