All For One
5/14/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
May 14, 2010
By MOISEKAPENDA BOWER
The praise is effusive and oftentimes deflected towards others.
Senior Dennis Polyakov provides the levity, humoring his teammates to the extent where they can reflect on footloose and carefree times during moments of extreme tension. Senior Bruno Rosa is supportive and caring, a godfather who youngsters can turn to when tribulations arise.
Sophomores Sam Garforth-Bles and Isamu Tachibana shared those riveting final points against top-seeded Tulsa at the Conference USA Men's Tennis Championships while participating on different courts, honing in on their opponents while relishing the cheers the other generated from the partisan crowd at Jake Hess Stadium. There is a thread that binds the entire Rice tennis roster, a connection that runs contrary to the individual nature of the game they all care for so deeply.
When Rosa describes the synchronicity that powered the upset of Tulsa in the tournament final, he speaks of channeled energy and a singularly focused mood cultivated from earlier hardships that established unshakable trust. When the Owls were scrambling to define their season, they did not splinter but rather cleaved to one another, making their win over the Golden Hurricane all the more fulfilling and savory.
"The main reason we cleave to the team concept so well is our work ethic and our attitudes towards each other," Garforth-Bles said in the run-up to the Owls' opening match of the NCAA Tournament against Washington on Saturday in Waco. "We don't have anyone on our team who is selfish or lazy, or anything that would have a negative impact on the group. I think that because we work so hard together and want to achieve success on a team level, it is really easy to cheer for each other. We see the work that each individual puts into their game, and want to have that work pay off for them because it greatly benefits all of us."
Team tennis seems, by definition, an oxymoron. How can skills developed over countless hours of practice and solitude be utilized to forward a team dynamic? It appears contradictory to suggest to an athlete whose sole purpose of taking up tennis was to achieve individual glory that striving for one's teammates is a more noble accomplishment.
For Tachibana, the lure of camaraderie sold him on the merits of college tennis. The environment at Rice, where success has become commonplace and stability is a given under head coach Ron Smarr and assistant Efe Ustundag, validated the decision Tachibana made to continue his career on South Main and root with sincerity for others.
"I love playing college tennis because of the team atmosphere," Tachibana said. "I really see it as an honor to represent not only my team, but Rice University as a whole. We do have an excellent history, and it does create a standard which really has brought our team together.
"When we lose, we definitely aren't complacent. Our coaches work us harder, and the rest of my teammates are so encouraging to make a jump. As an individual it's nice to win and succeed, but the feeling of winning that championship as a team has been the greatest thing that has happened to me on the court. Winning as a team and succeeding as a team feels so much better than any individual win that I have had. It's fair to say that I root for my teammates and put the team's success before any of mine."
That success didn't come easy. In mid-March the Owls dropped a 4-3 decision to California, their fourth consecutive loss overall and third in succession at Jake Hess Stadium. Rosa, the team's No. 1 player, was mired in a slump, and at 6-8 the Owls were perilously close to having their streak of seven consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances snapped. The Owls orchestrated a meeting, established a plan for future success, and adhered to it despite the discomfort that accompanies sharing critiques with those striving for the very same goals as yours.
"At some point we realized that we have to rely on each other to improve," Rosa said. "We had a hard time this semester because we had a very hard semester. We lost some matches to hard teams and we had to react. Humans react when situations are really rough, when you are under pressure, and I think that's what happened. We realized really fast that in order to really react we needed to push each other.
"Now looking back we had a meeting after we lost to California-Berkeley, and at that point we decided to move together, to accept each other's critiques and criticism, and to take it as a positive. And it helped us. Now it's natural because we are playing well, but it was important to decide to accept each other's criticism and fight together."
Fittingly for this team, there was no subsequent crisis. Ideas were shared, concepts analyzed, and the results were favorable. Smarr and Ustundag pushed and prodded the players, and they responded to the challenge presented. Their bond strengthened and the Owls began to generate momentum. With each smidgen of success that momentum built, and as vividly described by Rosa, the wheel kept on rolling through the close of the regular season and the C-USA final against Tulsa, which had tormented the Owls for years in this same situation.
As the Owls took the court against Tulsa, which had defeated Rice in each of the four previous C-USA finals, they believed that destiny was upon them. They fell behind in the match but no one fretted. Rosa, playing for the final time at Jake Hess Stadium, embraced every moment, and even after he completed his match felt so connected with his teammates that it was as if he were competing alongside them. The euphoria that followed when Garforth-Bles and Tachibana completed three-set victories within seconds of one another was almost ethereal.
"It's a very difficult feeling to describe," Rosa said, "but I guarantee you it's a great feeling to live."
The Owls don't see any reason why those good vibes can't continue. They have not completed what they started building together two months ago, and it would please the entire group to have the seniors, Polyakov and Rosa, extend their careers at least one match longer.
"I am relishing the opportunity to play with both seniors one more time, but after having played with them for two years and over 50 matches it's less about playing with them and more about hoping they play well for the matches they've got left," Garforth-Bles said. "In my opinion their last match at home when we won conference was something to be truly relished. It was a great finish to a senior year and that makes me happier than being able to play with them in the NCAA (Tournament).
"I am happy that I get to play alongside two great players and teammates for at least one more match, but all I wish for is that they play well and are happy with their respective careers at Rice."
Players Mentioned
