Tennis player Michael Angarita will be taking on new responsibilities this year as he is the only senior on the team and will be starting the season as the men’s number one player.
Assistant coach Bruce Anderson said that Angarita, who is originally from Columbia, transferred to Baker University last year from the University of Illinois, Springfield.
“He was pretty happy with the tennis program over there but came to Baker for the academics. At UIS he just didn’t feel that he was challenged enough academically,” Anderson said.
Being the only senior this year Angarita hopes that he will prevail as a strong leader and in doing so bring the men’s team closer together.
“We have three new guys on the team and four guys that are returning. I want to try to accommodate the new guys to this new environment and help them as much as I can,” Angarita said.
Last year’s captain Joe Ahmadian is now assistant coaching and after having played one year with Angarita and now coaching him, he is confident that his emphasis on team chemistry will be beneficial to their success this year.
“He leads a lot by example,” Ahmadian said. “He is really into the group dynamic and having a close knit team. He likes to include everybody in everything. I think that’s a good quality in a leader.”
Anderson agrees that Angarita will be able to step up into a leadership position and says that his effective communication with each player on the team will be a key to his role as a leader.
“The players listen to Michael. He keeps the guys together in interesting ways,” Anderson said. “He’s not a cheerleader, when he speaks to them he is a soft spoken guy. He doesn’t yell, he is not that kind of a person. But he reasons with the rest of the team and I think that makes the difference.”
On the court Michael has been extremely successful, his style of play reflecting his background of playing tennis over seas. Growing up in Columbia and playing primarily on clay courts has been an advantage to Angarita and will again aid him this year.
“Michael is content to keep the ball and play and wait for an opening. He is a very elegant player,” Anderson said. “He moves around a lot and keeps his opponents baffled as to where the ball is going to come and he tends to play long points.”
While Angarita quickly proved himself as a strong singles player, his lack of experience in doubles became a weakness when he came to Baker.
“When Michael came here he had never really played doubles and our team did not have the luxury last year of having particularly good players sit out in doubles. So he has continued to develop a doubles game,” Anderson said.
As he continues to work on his doubles game, Angarita plans to stick to the basics and continue to do what he does best.
“My backhand is getting better and my forehand has always been my weapon so that is something I will I keep trusting,” Angarita said.
