Our top 3 teams all made it into the round of 32 but all of them lost in that round, and a couple of them had really close matches.
I think it's already affecting his play. He's hitting a bigger ball, he's taking the ball earlier, he's attacking more. We worked out individually today for about an hour, he and I, and I see a difference in the balls he's hitting.
We know them. We anticipate another close match, a competitive match, which it usually is in this series.
Then we played Fresno State and had a close 4-2 with them. Stephen Bass deserves a great deal of credit for that match.
It was very hard fought - we did have opportunities we didn't capitalize on.
It's been a balance of both. That's the biggest thing, just getting used to the speed of the courts and heat and humidity and trying to fine tune the things we need to do a little better.
It was a really good experience for us. The La Hoya Beach and Tennis Club is a terrific place to host an event - it's right on the Pacific Ocean. The courts are in great shape. The competition was great. It was everything we wanted it to be.
When you step back from the moment of the loss and the pain and agony that goes with that and look back at what we achieved over the break, I think we have a lot to be proud of.
I think the goal is to win it this week. We only can control a little bit of our destiny with regards to the NCAA tournament - I think that's the bigger goal.
I think the confidence winning an event like that, particularly a national event, is going to vault him into another level of capabilities of the way he'll feel about himself on the court. He's going to play with more confidence and I don't think he's going to be afraid of anything.
