After splitting NCAC battles against East and West Division opponents over the weekend, Wabash tennis finished the regular season with a 15-11 overall record. The Little Giants defeated Ohio Wesleyan in the first match Saturday 5-1, before suffering a 9-0 loss to Denison.
 
Now the team begins play today in the 2013 NCAC Tennis Championship Tournament. The Little Giants open against DePauw University at 3 p.m. in Oberlin, Ohio. The tournament continues with matches on Saturday and Sunday.
 
Wabash's strength lies in its doubles squad, which went 2-3 against Ohio Wesleyan. Number-one doubles Wade Miller and Daniel Delgado paired for an 8-4 win and number-two doubles Mark Troiano and Nate Koelper won 8-4. Unfortunately Wabash was unable to capitalize off it early momentum when the team faced Denison later that day. Doubles play continued to be a strong edge for Wabash who came closest to scoring in their 9-8 number-two doubles loss.
 
The team is not only battling persistent injuries, but also creating the right mentality to win. Wabash was unable to take a set from Denison during singles competition.
 
“Against Denison we got off to a somewhat slow start,” Koelper said. “We [Mark and I] weren't able to do much and lost in a tiebreaker.”
 
As the underdog in the conference tournament, Wabash must come out sharp and ready against whomever it plays.
“I believe the team is mentally prepared for the tournament,” Miller said. “We are ready to finish higher in the conference than we are projected, which would mean we would have to upset someone.” 
 
The first-round matchup is crucial because winning it secures a top-four spot, something Wabash just missed in last year's fifth-place finish.
 
For Koelper, the key is getting to a fast start.
 
“We are going to go out and try to be the aggressors,” Koelper said. “If we can succeed in doing this we can be successful.”
 
Koelper believes the team is ready to for the conference tournament.
 
“We feel that we are pretty prepared, Coach Hutch has done a good job of getting us both mentally and physically prepared for the long weekend.”
 
Wabash has one of the toughest conferences in the nation. Last year's national indoor champion, Kenyon College, will enter the conference tournament ranked as the number-two team in Division III.
 
Miller admits that competition is tough, but does not look at that as an excuse to underperform. He knows the key will be to replicate last week's performance against Ohio Wesleyan.
 
“We did what we wanted to do which was to get out to the early lead and then finish them quickly,” Miller said. “We just wanted to beat them early so they wouldn't have the desire to try and fight back.”
 
If the rest of the team shares Miller's optimism they may just be able to upset second-seeded DePauw.
 
“Even though much of the team has nagging injuries, come the weekend we will be ready to battle,” he said. “We are Wabash, and Wabash Always Fights!”