Spring sports have consistently been a strong suit at Lansing, and that’s especially been the case for tennis over the past few years. The Bobcats have won the last three IAC championship titles. If they want to make it four in a row, they’ll have to do so with a vastly different lineup.
It’s been a great start for the new-look Bobcats, winning four of their first six matches, as of April 27. With 13 seniors graduating from last year’s squad, second-year head coach RJ Malabanan was initially worried about not having enough numbers to field a team. But with 20 players signed up, the health of the program is as strong as ever.
“So far, we’ve been good,” Malabanan said. “We passed the major hurdles. We beat Trumansburg in our first match and then Watkins Glen, which is really everyone’s competition… I’m very proud of my team. We’re doing what I had hoped we would be doing at this stage. But there’s always room for improvement.”
Not only are there a plethora of newcomers to the Bobcats, but a few of the doubles players from last season have transitioned to playing singles. While there have been some adversity early on—namely defeats to Trumansburg and Thomas A. Edison—the Bobcats will undoubtedly be better off for going through it.
“After every match, I always ask them, ‘What did you learn?’” Malabanan said. “I really want them to think about [that] even if they win or lose, you don’t win if you don’t learn something from the match. You lose if you don’t reflect and realize that you could have done something different. A growth mindset is a mindset that I really want to promote.”
Fisher Boerman takes the mantle at the first singles spot this year. The senior played first doubles alongside Tolunay Ayar with great success in winning an IAC title, and he has had a solid start to playing solo with a 3-3 record. One thing’s for certain: Boerman is one of the more entertaining players in the league.
“He’s a showman,” Malabanan said. “He needs those moments where he could just do these jumps, do the flare, do a tweener. He lives for those moments, and it’s part of his game. But I want to get him to not need to use all that energy. Just finish [points]. Shorten the points. But he shows his passion, his joy for playing, and he wants to be engaged and be challenged.”
Ayar has excelled at the second singles spot, sporting a perfect 5-0 record and has only lost one set. The senior has the athleticism and dynamism to thrive on the court, which was on full display throughout the fall for the boys soccer team. But the mental part of his tennis game is where he has developed the most.
“My first couple years, I would really beat myself up over little things, and I definitely wasn’t performing as well,” Ayar said. “But as I’ve grown and as I’ve played better players, it shows that if you don’t get inside your own head, then you’ll perform a lot better.”
The third singles spot has mainly been occupied by freshman Emre Ayar (Tolunay’s younger brother) and senior Yuval Eynav. Ayar in his first year on the Bobcats and played in the first two matches, but an injury led Eynav to round out the singles lineup, where he is 2-2 so far. When Eynav isn’t playing singles, he’s struck a great partnership with freshman Ben Brown in doubles.
“Yuval is a strong doubles player, and his style is very much doubles,” Malabanan said. “He’ll serve and volley. He’ll come up to the net a lot, which works if you have a partner. He’s learning as he’s playing third singles that ‘Oh, that can’t work all the time.’ So that’s one thing I’ve been trying to work on with him.
The Bobcats’ other doubles pairing consists of two new tennis players: Orion Benenati and Veena Vidavalur. Despite their inexperience, the sophomore duo looks like they’ve played together for years, winning their first four matches and only dropping one set so far.
Lansing once again has a target on its back this year as it strives for more glory. Whether or not the Bobcats complete the four-peat of IAC titles, Malabanan hopes that his team is thoroughly enjoying their time on the court together.
“I want them to have fun, make friends from other schools, and just go hit with them,” Malabanan said. “We’ve been doing that, and that’s been a plus for me as a coach. I just want them to love the sport. Have fun with it. Don’t get stressed over winning or losing. Winning is important, and they know that. But I’m focusing more on the process and so far, it’s been great.”
