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We have had some crazy weather but I think we're going to mellow that out and
that will give everybody a chance to go hangout at the new tennis complex there are seats for you
so let's kind of preview the Men's Tennis here with the Charlotte
49ers we've got head coach Billy Boykin back in the chair again welcome back
to the set.
A couple of guys that haven't been on set but we've written a lot about over the last
year
Nate Shanok who is going to be a sophomore this season correct? That's right. And then
we've got Krzysztof Kwasniewicz who is a senior
our senior guy that's been here while. It took me a couple of years to learn how to
spell your name but we've written in a lot
over the last few years and that's because he's been on the court quite a
bit. Let's kind of jump right into it Coach as we look at
2013
as you've been here a few years now you've kind of
grown up around the city grown up around the program
go from nice courts to building starting last year then the dedication at the end
of last season now these guys really get to experience the full effect of having
a locker room and a storage room and
places to string your raquets and have all your equipment right there not have to
drag that all over.
Everything so convenient. What kind of impact has that had I know you guys started
playing in the Fall and then rolling that into this semester but how what kind
of impact has that building had on you guys? Oh our facilities, I mean it's a fantastic place the
Halton-Wagner Tennis Complex is really an amazing place
I think one of the neatest parts about it
it would it's literally right in the middle
of our campus you know it's kind of at the equivalent of Maple and Main of our campus
right there next to the Student Union
and so we get a lot of
walk-by traffic and we you know anticipate having some
fans come out and watch us play some matches so that's exciting but from a space
standpoint you really can't beat it, our guys as we begin to travel more and more
to different locations around the country, I think our facility compares favorably to
almost every place we go you know so that part is great. I think you
know again with space, conference room space, locker room space, team room space
those things are all
tremendous amenities. My personal favorite thing is the training room because we
can
doctor up our little ailments you know and it makes it that much easier so from a health
standpoint I think that may be the
the biggest single change I've seen and that allows for us to kind of care for our bodies.
And on into the future, recruiting wise is going to be a huge boon for you
guys I know and speaking of recruiting we've got some
a good squad of guys in last year a big freshman class, Nate, that you're a part
of and you guys got a lot of court time last year.
Can you kind of tell me from last year to this year how much maybe more efficient
your life is having everything so convenient when it comes to
the other things, class and eating and living that you do on campus?
Yeah it's amazing it's just
so much more convenient you know we can
go take a shower before class as opposed to showing up
all smelly and sweaty
and
we can use the training room and locker rooms we don't have to walk so much you know
to use the restroom or anything like that.
And visiting with coaches is convenient where as you were
in the Halton Arena building in the SAC before, now you're right there that's got to be a big boon for
you. And Krzysztof,
when you got here, just think back to the day that you arrived
on campus I remember you transferred in mid-year I think 2010
So, kind of take us through kind of
watching the place grow up around you and kind of feel like that you've got
ownership in this new facility here in your last year.
Definitely, I remember
the first year when I got here we didn't have like we had tennis courts,
like completely different set up and we didn't have a facility, we just had a little bathroom
and we were sharing with I don't know
like with the facility. Yeah exactly and
you know and we got a new court which was great but we still didn't have
a facility like it took a while
before we got it and now like it's my last year
and it's, I'm really excited like finally we have our big home where we all hanging
out where we have a team room where we sometimes playing ping-pong we have meetings
we're talking with Coach we can study even there and like locker rooms where we can shower
you can raquet it's definitely a big advantage for us as a team and
it's just great, yeah. I think maybe it gives,
not only is it a nice place but think about
the extra time in your day you get back
because of the convenience of it and I would think just
you know five or ten more minutes with the guys over the course of a year can
really add up with more instruction
more camaraderie you guys have a place to hang out that's kind of the
unsung part of this thing. For sure, the convenience factor those are kind of
critical
unsung minutes really you get to know
the kids even better, you get to see them more frequently they get more
bonding time and less kind of commuting time so that part of its really
it's terrific we we're definitely appreciative of this facility and we want
to try to maximize its potential and I think that's the key. Let's talk about on the
court now as we kind of transition into this season.
You played a very young line up last year and guys won on a lot of matches.
You had a really
good stretch coming out after starting with the three ranked teams on the
schedule last year. You sort of got hot got on a roll you kind of see that kind of
potential out of this group with having a
year under their belts for a lot of the guys and having some older
veterans to kind of help
show them the ropes a little bit? Definitely, I think that's the key and I think last year
you can attribute most of our success you know I think we were undefeated in the A
Ten regular season play, we earned the number-one seed going into the tournament,
we knocked off the defending champions at their place
and a lot of that is attributed to the the work that we put in at practice and we
were a pretty
great group in terms of going out there every day and practicing hard and that
came from really good upperclassman leadership you know Krzysztof was a
junior last year Anthony Davison was our captain,
was a tremendous captain, really lead by example
and this year Krzysztof is our captain
and has done, you know, an
equally great job of really kind of shepherding all these young guys because we have
you know really this is the most talented and deep team that I've
ever coached and so trying to you know make use of all the different parts that
we have and give everybody opportunities to play their best
tennis and you know I think that that's going to be critical to this
season. We do return a lot of youth and that group for sure the
younger group had a very successful campaign last year
but really at the end the day you know
tennis is a kind of what have you done for me lately game so we better go out and
and practice with that same enthusiasm this year that we had last year and I
think you know
that's where you know we lean on your upperclassmen on your senior captain and
the juniors and your sophomores and you hope
they will all love the game
and want to practice hard and
go out and do the best that we can do.
Made from a
from a standpoint of the way the team is contructed when you look at you know if
there's a lot of guys in your class you guys are kind of growing up
together on the court but how important is it to have a guy that's been
around a while to be able to learn from or ask a question about this or that
especially sometimes when you're on the road and just kind of on your own.
Yeah I mean we have a fantastic class
2011.
It's me, Jack Williams, Alex Calott, Paul Cisti, Kamil Khalil
and you know we're
talented and we work hard, but it really helps to have
a captain like Krzysztof and last year we had we were lucky enough to have Anthony Davison
just to, you know, show us the ropes and help
guide us through whatever problems we have.
Well as we kind of wrap this up, let's kind of just take one
look at the A-10 the way tennis is setup you guys are so spread out you don't
really get to face
all of the teams. Sometimes the first time you see team is at the conference tournament
kind of your lay of the landscape where you guys may see yourselves fitting in
this year.
You know the A-10
has improved every year I've coached in the league. It's a vastly improved conference, you
know every year it gets better
and they added
a national power house to the conference this year in VCU, Virginia Commonwealth
University. They've been
to the finals and the NCAAs in tennis, Men's Tennis before and
they're typically your top twenty-five team. Where George Washington is
probably returning the best team that they've ever had, Xavier is always a
really tough team, the University of Richmond, Fordham, those teams are strong. I
think that this is going to be a very competitive conference this year and
honestly I think that
you know a lot of our fortunes will be determined by the work that we put in
because I think that there is parity
and you know we're going to have to get out there and work hard
and be prepared when it's time for us to go out and play.
Well I know the converence championships will be back in Ohio so best of luck I know being in
that one seed last year was a big deal and I hope
good luck for you guys this year good health obviously
and a nice training room in case bumps and bruises happen but
we certainly hope the fans will come out and watch the Halton-Wagner Tennis
Complex is a fantastic facility
even if it's cold out there people the sun will shine on you if you sit down
low so go out, you've got no excuse. These guys have a nice stretch of nine matches out of
eleven where the will be at home. So
we hope to see you down there and when you do come out wear green and go Niners.
Head Coach Billy Boykin, thanks for coming out and for sharing a few moments with us.
Guys, best of luck. Nate Shanok one of our super sophomores
Krzysztof Kwasniewicz
we hope that you have a good final season here at Charlotte. We appreciate your efforts and good luck this year
We will see you out at the Halton-Wagner Tennis Complex. Don't forget to wear
green and go Niners.