Griffin Truslow | Staff Writer
Kyle Weeden is a senior sports management major at Buena Vista University (BVU) from Des Moines, Iowa. Weeden has been on the tennis team for the last four years and has been captain of the team for the last two years.
Weeden has played a majority of the season at the number four spot in singles and the number one spot for doubles. Weeden’s doubles partner is Chris Habbermann, a sophomore and a member of the All-Iowa Conference team for his performance last year.
“We work so well together because of that connection we made last year when we would work together through my singles matches. We both, as individual tennis players, work very hard on and off the court with training and practice, but when we come together, we both have that common drive to succeed and win,” Habbermann said.
The season has hit the midway point, as Weeden and the team are looking to turn things around from the first half of the season.
“We’ve played some challenging non-conference match-ups and played tough against Coe. We beat up on Bethany Lutheran, which helped our confidence a little bit. We are looking to have a strong finish to the season. Were going to Hilton Head Island again this year for spring break so we’ll get some matches down there, but April is when the majority of our conference matches are so we need to come back from South Carolina as focused as possible,” Weeden said.
Second year head coach Rick Halverson has been able to rely on Weeden since day one, not only as a great player, but a great leader.
“He has handled the responsibilities of what a captain does from day one without even being named it; it made picking him as captain a no-brainer. Being the captain, I count on him for a number of things such as making sure warm-ups and practice get started on time and making sure we have everything. Rarely do I ever have to ask him to do something. He is always aware of what needs to be done,” Halverson said.
Even though Weeden has been assisting others around him for several years, he has been able to grow as a player himself.
“Kyle has improved every aspect of his game at a consistent pace, but I’d say the biggest gains have come in his maturity. Over the past year and a half, I’ve watched him mature as a student-athlete. He has really done an excellent job of knowing when to lead and when to follow. This has made him a great captain because he can lead the team vocally and by example,” Halverson said.
The team will travel to Hilton Head, South Carolina from March 21 to March 28, where they will compete in several matches. Weeden is currently 2-5 in singles and 3-4 in doubles. BVU as a team is currently 1-6 and will open up the bulk of conference play on Saturday, Apr. 4.
Photo by Kyle Shade
