Think men’s tennis coach Jay Harris has high expectations for his Falcons?

On a weekend when Bowling Green swept a tough Xavier team and came close to defeating the 20th ranked team in the nation, Harris was not impressed. While he wasn’t upset with the overall results from the weekend matches, the 5-2 loss to Illinois State on Saturday did have him questioning the overall effort from his squad.

With the Falcons at 8-5 on the season, Harris expects his team to start to turn the close losses into victories.

“I expect us to give a great effort, and our guys need to step up,” Harris said. “A more consistent effort and we can win those matches.”

On the strength of the matches played by Joel Carney and Vitek Wild, BG was three holds away from emerging victorious against Indiana State. Yet with defeat looming on their home court, the Sycamores fought back and won the match.

“We had them. The match was ours,” senior Mike Kossoff said. “It’s good to know we were right there, but we have to work as hard as we can all the time. I learned a great deal, and I think the team did too.”

Harris was pleased with the play of Wild and Carney during the weekend, who, according to Harris, did come out and give a great effort.

“Joel just didn’t want to lose, and he was playing as tough as anybody out there,” Harris said. “Vitek came out with is first great effort of the season. He has had some good ones, this was his first great one.

While many of his players are looking forward to the MAC Tournament in April, Harris believes that the team cannot lose sight of the upcoming matches that await them. He also thinks that the team needs to improve to contend in the tournament.

“We aren’t good enough to win the MAC tournament,” Harris said. “We need increased leadership to be able to do that.”

Kossoff believes that while the team is excited about the tournament, that is something that does not affect their focus.

“We need to have a goal,” said Kossoff. “We need to play one game at a time and also peak at the right time.”

The team’s next match will take place in New Orleans next week against Southeastern Louisiana. The teams will play outdoors and under the lights at a country club. Harris sees some similarities between them and Southeastern Louisiana.

“They are very good, apotential top 75 team who are a lot like us,” Harris said. “The setting should be nice and we are looking forward to a great match.”