Sooners Open 2017 With Sunday Doubleheader

¹¹Oklahoma

Abilene Christian | Sunday, Jan. 15 | Noon CT

Nebraska-Omaha | Sunday, Jan 15 | 5 p.m. CT

Headington Family Tennis Center

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NORMAN -- No. 12 Oklahoma men's tennis, coming off three consecutive national runner-up seasons, has two matches on the docket this weekend to open up their 2017 slate. The Sooners open the regular season Sunday at noon against Abilene Christian, before wrapping up the day with Nebraska-Omaha at 5 p.m. CT at Headington Family Tennis Center.

Catch up with first-year head coach Nick Crowell as he previews the Sooners' season and discusses what to expect from him and his team.

Q: After 13 years as a coach at Florida State, what brought you to Oklahoma? What excited you about this job?

A: For me, coming to Oklahoma has been a dream come true. I've looked at this job my whole career as one that was on a short list of jobs that I thought would be a great place to be. This is a big-time university in a big conference with a winning tennis tradition. There's no better place to be than in Norman.

Q: How much did having four accomplished veterans (Florin Bragusi, Andrew Harris, Alex Ghilea, Spencer Papa), help in your initial transition to Norman?

A: Our four older guys have just been unbelievable this whole year. Coming in this fall, they all came in and worked really hard toward their specific individual and team goals. Now that we've got a bunch of new guys coming in here as well, they'll really be able to lead these guys into the season.

Q: What is your preferred style of tennis, and what have you done with your team to prepare them for it?

A: We want to step up and play what I call, 'big-time tennis'. We're looking to be aggressive, but also making sure we're being smart with our shot selections. We put a big emphasis on coming forward and being a team that can finish. That's been kind of our motto this year – we want to be able to finish. One of the other things we've really put a big focus on is fitness. (Strength and conditioning coach) Brett Frantz has done a great job organizing our program, and the guys have done a really good job in the fall getting after it.

Q: How satisfying would it be to finish the job this year, especially for Alex, Andrew, Florin and Spencer?

A: It would be pretty special. I think this is a really special team. You walk into a team that's been to the NCAA team finals three years in a row, and these four guys really want it. We've done our best this fall to bring in a good team to surround them and put together a program that can make a run this year.

Q: How will the new additions (Jochen Bertsch, Mason Bridegan, Adrian Chamdani, Adrian Oetzbach, Arnaud Restifo) benefit this team?

A: They're bringing energy right now. We're here at the first day of practice, and they came in here and brought a spark. All these guys really like to play tennis. They like to practice, they like to get after it and they like to compete and work hard, so I think they're going to be a really good fit for our program.

Q: In what way can all of the talent in the Big 12 (all six Big 12 teams begin the season in the top 25), along with a difficult non-conference schedule, benefit your team throughout the year, especially when the postseason comes around?

A: I looked at our schedule, and when you throw in our Oracle Tournament (BNP Paribas Open) and the Kickoff (ITA Kickoff Weekend) we're probably going to play around 13 teams in the top 25. I think that's going to be one of the toughest schedules in the country, and we're excited to play the best teams in the country. I think that's just going to help our younger guys get used to that upper-level of competition heading into the postseason.

Q: What can a big crowd do for your guys in a big match?

A: One of my goals coming in here is to have big crowds coming out to our matches and really supporting the program, because we love it. Our guys have actually talked about how, in Tulsa, they really enjoyed playing at the NCAA Championships in front of 500-1,000 people. That's one of our goals is to have fans out here at our matches.

Q: How excited are you and your players for this weekend?

A: Really excited. It's been about six months in the making and the guys are ready to get after it. We're just ready to take the gloves off, get out there and start going to battle.