Jesse Ferlianto

Past Entries

Entry 1

October 27, 2003

After the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) South Regional Championships were completed, three Emory men's tennis players--sophomore Pat Redmond, junior Mark Odgers, and myself--were eligible to compete in the ITA National Championships in Corpus Christi, Texas.

From October 16-19, eight singles players and eight doubles teams from schools all over the nation would compete for the men's ITA national singles and doubles titles in Division III. Unfortunately, our fall break happened to be placed right before the tournament, preventing us from staying on campus to practice together under Coach Browning's guidance during that crucial time.

I flew to Los Angeles, Redmond visited family in Boston, and Odgers stayed with his parents in El Salvador. We agreed to find ways to practice individually during our break, so we would be ready to come out firing on day one of the competition. And also because we knew that there wouldn't be any time to practice together because we were immediately leaving for Corpus Christi the first day we all got back to Emory. The competition would be tough from the beginning, so there was no room for slow starts.

Game 6 of the Red Sox-Yankees series happened to be going on during our flight to Corpus Christi. Random cheers and sighs could be heard all around the Boeing 747 aircraft as the captain occasionally reported updates. After landing, Redmond could hardly contain himself when the captain made his final announcement: the Sox came out on top, 9-6.

We were greeted by the warm and tropical Corpus Christi evening as we walked out of the airport. In our Dodge Intrepid rental car, we cruised along the dim, peaceful shoreline overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. Our grumbling stomachs signaled to us that it was time for a feast, but at the moment the Cubs and the Marlins were playing game 7 of their series, so we felt it mandatory to find a place where we could eat and watch.

After getting directions from a few random men with cowboy hats wandering the streets, we finally found Q's Sports Bar. We sat down and enjoyed our meals while watching the game, and especially enjoyed the hospitality of our lovely waitress, Brittany.

The next morning, we were awaken by the lovely sounds of the Omni Hotel wake-up call at 6 a.m. because we had to prepare Redmond for his 8 a.m. duel with Gustavus Adolphus's Loren Collins. After a hearty breakfast, we were off.

The morning was already surprisingly muggy, while the sun remained elusive behind the thick wall of threatening clouds hovering over the area. Our shirts were dripping in sweat after a brief warm-up session, and we knew from the start that the day was only going to get warmer and stickier. One could only imagine how Josh Rubens's body would react to such humid conditions.

In his match, Redmond got off to a slow start, setting up good points but having difficulty breaking through his relentlessly quick and consistent Gustie opponent. He lost the first set 6-1, but rallied back patiently, tightened up on big points to tie the match at a set apiece, winning the second set 6-3.

The third set proved to be a battle, a match that came down to a few big points here and there despite the ending set score. Serving down 2-4, Redmond was penalized one game after letting his racket slip out of his hand after a tough point. If anything, the umpires at this tournament were out there to make sure behavior and sportsmanship was at its best, as they were ruthless when it came to punishing anything that violated "the code."

Shaken by the sudden urgency of the moment (down 5-2), Redmond fought valiantly but came up short of a magical comeback. In the end, Redmond's two-and-a-half hour grinder came to an end, 2-6 in the third set. The loss was hard for him to bear, as it was his first loss in a while.

Redmond had the rest of the day off, but Odgers and I were scheduled to play our first round match at 12:30 p.m. We grabbed a quick bite, engaged in a short warm-up session, and were off to the races. Shaking off first-round jitters, we played some clean, aggressive doubles to achieve the 6-1, 6-3 victory over a team from University of Rochester.

It was nice to have the support of the Emory women's tennis members present at the sidelines to cheer us on. Their coach trained them to be time-efficient, however, as they remembered to bring their textbooks to read during our 90-second changeovers. Inspired by the women and their books, Odgers tried to do the same during our changeovers, but I quickly put an end to that.

The day was not yet over, though, as Odgers and I were scheduled to play our semifinal match against a duo from Gustavus Adolphus at 4:30 p.m. the same day. This gave us just enough time to return to the hotel for another small meal, a hot shower, a change of clothes, and some downtime to relax.

When we arrived at the courts, the winds had picked up to a steady 15 miles per hour or more. The sun had been baking down on the courts all afternoon, so it was definitely hot. We doubled up on our usual application of sunblock and started the match promptly.

Our Gustie opponents came out playing smart doubles, and gave away very few points, while we were having trouble finishing off points and staying aggressive. After getting broken once, we lost the first set 4-6, and things were not looking good.

During the changeover, Coach Browning settled us down and told us to keep plugging away at our opponents, making them earn every point, playing two back on the return games until we got our rhythm back. On our service games, we tried mixing things up more, and right away holding serve was easier. Before long, we had the second set in the bag, 6-2.

To decide the match, we were instructed to play a 10-point "super" tiebreaker, every tennis player's worst nightmare. Despite the few ugly points we played, Odgers and I eventually took advantage of our opponents' costly errors, and won the nail-biting breaker, 10-8. It definitely wasn't a pretty tiebreaker, but our job for the day was done and over with. We earned a spot in the national championship match to be held the following day.

That evening, we decided to dine at Hooters, a place where we could watch game 7 of the Red Sox-Yankees series. On the way there, we realized that Brittany's top-notch service from the night before would be tough to beat. However, Tammy, our Hooters waitress, did not disappoint.

We spent the rest of the evening in our hotel room watching the rest of the game. Aaron Boone's bomber of a home run at the bottom of the 11th sent us to bed in angry spirits as the Yankees claimed the game, 6-5. Redmond was clearly heartbroken by Boston's continuing Curse of the Bambino.

The next morning, Redmond was up against Mike Thompson from NYU, and quickly got up a set, 6-4. Somehow, Thompson fought his way back to a 5-1 lead in the second, but this did not faze Redmond, who rattled off six straight games to win the set, and therefore the match, 7-5. He dedicated his win to his beloved yet cursed Red Sox.

Next, Odgers and I were on for our championship match against a pair for Trinity University (TX). Again, the tropical heat was relentless as we marched onto the court for our 2:30 p.m. match. The match was close and the games were tight from the start. Somehow, we couldn't figure out a way to break serve, and ended up losing 7-5, 6-4. Our opponents played smart and won the key points, making us pay for any loose mistakes. We had to settle for second place.

That evening we decided to watch two quality movies: Bruce Almighty and American Wedding. We all slept like babies our last night at the Omni Hotel. Odgers and I were done for the week, but Redmond had one more match to go, and then it was back to Emory for us.

The next morning, Redmond was up against Tim Layman of Linfield College in the playoff for fifth place. "Strength and honor" were Coach Browning's last words of inspiration for Pat before the battle began.

Despite getting off to a slow start, Redmond buckled down when he needed to, firing away on big points and keeping the pressure on his crafty opponent en route to a 7-5, 6-4 victory. His opponent tried everything from steady backcourt rallying to serve-and-volleying, but Pat stayed strong and held on for the win. He ended up fifth at the ITA National Championships. Not too shabby if you ask me.

All in all, we found the trip to be eventful, the competition intense, and the fellowship priceless. It was a pleasant end to our fall season, and we flew back to Atlanta convinced that the spring season would bring with it more success stories and memorable moments. But for now, we had better hit the books to catch up and hit them hard!

Jesse Ferlianto is a sophomore from Canyon Country, Calif. He would love to answer e-mail questions from Emory recruits and fans.