The Prairie View A&M men’s tennis team turned in a strong showing at the Courtyard Marriot-Rice Invitational. The Panthers’ number one doubles team comprised of Kudzai Chiridza and Andy Narido defeated Tulsa’s Lucques Maasdorp and Olof Sjolund in doubles competition (9-8-4). “We’re starting to understand that we belong and that we’re able to compete against any team in the country,” said head tennis coach John Cochran. The Panthers were also competitive in singles action as Nicholas Bateman pulled an upset over Southern Methodist University’s Rudy Garza (6-4, 4-6, 6-2). “Tennis is a game of execution,” said Cochran. “If we go out and execute it’s up for grabs as to what we can achieve. The wins are there and available for us to take them, we just have to get the job done.”
Prairie View will now get set to participate in the HBCU championships during the weekend of Sept. 30 in Atlanta, Ga. The tournament will feature a broad array of teams from around the country and competition for the title should be fierce.
“We’re going to need to play solid and basic tennis in order to be successful in Atlanta,” said Cochran. “If we don’t beat ourselves we’ll give ourselves a chance to beat our opponents.