Men's Tennis Season Preview

Monday February 12, 2024 - 1:10 p.m. | Dylan DeVlieger

MCC Men's Tennis takes to the court on Feb. 22 as they kick off their 2024 season in hopes of earning their 10th straight Region I title. 

This season head coach Feroz Rast will have a much younger squad than he is accustomed to as he has six freshman and will be looking to his sophomore Asad Okoye to lead the charge for his team and lead the younger players through the grind of JUCO tennis.

"This is going to be my youngest team coaching, we have six freshman so it's going to be a very young team and I'm going to rely on Asad to really lead from the front since he's been there before," said Rast, "I'll rely on his experience from nationals and region play to get our younger players understanding what it takes to win conference matches and what it takes to win at the national level."

For Asad Okoye, leading comes naturally to him, showing his leadership through his actions as opposed to his words. Okoye is hopeful to take the younger players to the next level and have them not repeat mistakes he made in his first go round.

 "It's just leading by example, people call themselves leaders but it's more about your actions," said Okoye, "it fits like a glove, do what you do and set an example."

Going into his sophomore campaign, Okoye has grown tremendously from his freshman year. Looking back he is glad how everything played out, even the mistakes he made so he is able to take those errors and turn them into learning experiences he will apply this season.

"I'm glad I made a lot of mistakes last year so now I can see where the gaps are," said Okoye, "not as much pressure as last year, I'm just out here flowing, short term memory."

With one Region I title already in the bag for Okoye, he's on the quest for his second while Rast searches for his fourth since coming to MCC. Though the thought of a 10th straight region title does cross Rast's mind, he knows that every year is different and anything can happen. 

"As a coach it's always on my mind but I tell these players every year is different. This is a new team, new chemistry, new everything," said Rast. 

Every season MCC starts their season off with big tests before they begin conference play and this season is no different as MCC will host the former national title winners in Seward County College. Once conference play kicks off MCC will be challenged with each match as they take on opponents like Glendale and Paradise Valley.

Okoye is not the only Thunderbirds to look out for this season as Rast has assembled a talented and exciting freshman class this season.

"Carson Abril is going to surprise a lot of people, he's going to make a name for himself real quick and by the end of the season I see him being ranked nationally. We have a couple other freshmen Brady Miller who is going to challenge us during not only practice but during big matches as well. I think he's going to come in clutch for us," said Rast.

MCC seeks to continue their dominance over Region I as they look to win their 10th straight title. Rast and company see this team being very competitive throughout the year and hope to see them competing at nationals and coming home a top 15 team in the nation.

Click here to view the T-Birds 2024 schedule.