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The Indiana Daily Student

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Men's tennis team grows together during week in Vegas

Tennis

Every team has its training program.

It usually takes place right before the season begins, and it typically consists of a coach pushing his players to their physical and emotional extremes.

The IU men’s tennis team had all that, but its training program didn’t take place on the Assembly Hall floor or the practice fields behind Memorial Stadium. Instead, the Hoosiers went to Las Vegas for a week-long bonding and training experience they will not soon forget.

The club traveled, lived and spent long, grueling days training together on a trip head coach Randy Bloemendaal said he hopes will prepare his players for anything they will experience throughout the upcoming spring season.

The venue may have been different than anything the Hoosiers had experienced before, but Bloemendaal said he is hopeful the trip will help them accomplish their team goals this year.

“I think more than anything, they started to gain a better understanding of what we’re trying to do here at Indiana and a better understanding of what it’s going to take to get there,” the Hoosiers’ second-year coach said. “They started learning about not just getting along with their teammates, but how to get the most out of them.”

Bloemendaal and the coaching staff rented out a house for the week and set up an area where the team could meet each night to discuss various topics as a group.

During the day, the Hoosiers bonded on the tennis court.

Early in the week, they trained five to six hours per day on the University of Nevada, Las Vegas campus. IU began playing doubles matches Wednesday afternoon, so the Hoosiers trained for only three and a half hours that day.

They then competed in the UNLV Spring Invitational throughout the weekend and produced results Bloemendaal was tremendously proud of.

“It was a success all the way around,” he said. “The guys weren’t at their best physically, but it was more about getting to the right mentality and to be comfortable mentally in the face of adversity.”

Freshman Josh MacTaggart, one of IU’s top performers in the fall season, understands the unique nature of the trip he and his teammates experienced.

MacTaggart did not get the match results he had hoped for, but he still enjoyed the bonding experience with a group composed of so many different cultural backgrounds.

“It was good fun being with the team and everything,” said the United Kingdom native. “We elected the captains and talked about some things, so it was good for the team. I lost some close matches, but I’m going to keep working hard.”

And spending a week in the Sin City wasn’t all that bad, either.

“Las Vegas is awesome,” MacTaggart said. “I had never been before, so it’s pretty interesting to see the whole city.”

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