Roughing it for Success

One might think that camping has little to do with success in tennis.

However, if you were to ask UB men's tennis head coach Russ Crispell, he might convince you that camping is just the thing necessary for developing the important components of a successful team.

"My team has been camping in tents," said Crispell, "We played Dartmouth and Army in the Dartmouth invitational this fall, (the other teams) were blown away, they couldn't believe it. As a matter of fact, I think we shocked Army."

Camping when traveling instead of enjoying the comforts of a hotel room has built the team's character according to Crispell, as well as turned some heads among some of the top teams and coaches in the nation.

"When we were at our regional tournament, we slept in tents," said Crispell. "The coach from Harvard came up to me and asked if I was the coach of the team that is sleeping in tents. I said 'yeah,' and he said 'that's awesome,' and asked if we'd consider coming up to do a retreat for his team, so I guess that's a compliment."

The players all seem to have a very positive attitude about the "roughing it" that most college athletes would be shocked by.

"I really feel that its really brought the team together, it's a good bonding experience," said Josh Liederman.

Liederman is not the only player than has seen the effects of this extraordinary togetherness; team Co-Captains Nick Zieziula and Randy Rocchio also expressed their impressions of this unusual experience in college sports.

"It brings us together a lot," said Zieziula. "It helps build the team; it gives everybody a sense of responsibility for what they have to do."

UB is in the middle of their spring season that ends with the Mid-American Conference Championships at the end of April.

Teamed up with the character building and bonding methods that Crispell utilizes, has been the opportunity to face some of the toughest competition in the nation. While only boasting a 6-9 overall record this year, the Bulls have faced nationally ranked teams including Barry University on their spring break trip to Florida.

"We have played Brown University and Dartmouth, we've gone to Harvard and played Cornell, and an Army team that's strong in the patriot league," said Crispell "We want to face the toughest competition, were not looking for the W's."

According to Crispell, Rocchio will most likely be steering the Bulls as they head into the last matches of the season and the MAC Championships. Rocchio seemed to be a big supporter of the teamwork that has come from Crispell's methods.

"I think it just brings our team really close together," said Rocchio. "Everybody is in the same small area and we all have to use teamwork, to do our own jobs and be responsible."

The team will be heading to Northern Illinois to face a surging Huskies team and their 11-3 record. The Huskies are on a six game winning streak, coming off of a thrashing of Western Illinois. UB will need strong play from all their players in order to stroke a defeat into the Huskies court.

Also looming in the future are the MAC Championships, which begin Thursday April 22, and conclude on April 25. This year's MAC Championships will be held at Ball State in Muncie, Indiana.