Chelsey Goetz | Contributing Writer
Buena Vista University Men’s Tennis team’s number-one singles and doubles player grabs a fuzzy yellow ball from his pocket. As he patiently waits, he bounces the ball between his legs. BVU junior, Chris Habermann, is relaxed but full of energy on an early Saturday morning as moisture droplets start to glisten from his forehead. When he’s finally ready, he steps up to the serving line and bounces the ball once, twice. Thonk, thonk. In one swift motion, the ball cuts through the air and crashes against his pink tennis racket. Pop! The ball soars right into the net.
Without hesitation, he grabs another ball from his pocket. Thonk, thonk. Again, the ball goes high in the air and suddenly crashes with the tennis racket. Pop! This time the ball flies over the net and bounces into the opponent’s territory. His opponent frantically swings to volley the ball back, but the yellow ball zips past him and travels down the steps leading to the BVU pool.
“How?!” shouts his opponent as he turns to stares at Habermann in disbelief while BVU Men’s Tennis Head Coach, Brett Groen, yells from across the gym, “Good serve, Chris!”
Habermann smiles and takes a congratulatory handshake from his tennis partner.
“The game is really all about watching the ball,” Habermann says. “And lots of practice.”
Habermann didn’t start playing tennis until seventh grade. When he discovered the sport, though, he had to quit other sports as tennis took over his life. He went on to become a four-year varsity letter winner and to win one conference championship in high school. When it was time to look at colleges, the combination of academics and playing tennis were two big factors he considered.
“If it wasn’t for the tennis program, I probably wouldn’t have looked at BV,” Habermann said. “One of the cool things that BV did when I was looking for schools is that they had winter tennis clinics, and I would always come up to those.”
Habermann quickly climbed the ranks in the BV men’s tennis team and he has played in the number-one slot for both singles and doubles for all BVU games except one. For every game, Habermann has one ritual: showing up early.
“I’m usually the first one there,” Habermann said. “I’m able to stretch and warm up, and then once the team shows, we do the team warm-ups.”
After stretching their muscles, Habermann and the rest of the BVU team are ready to play.
Habermann and junior, Jesse Brace, will start the day in doubles play. Habermann and Brace will normally look up their competition days before, and check out their statistics with past common opponents to find any strengths and weaknesses. Otherwise, the doubles team has no pregame rituals, they just go and have fun.
“We’re pretty relaxed and loose when we play, which is nice because there is always this level where we take it seriously, but we also want to enjoy it,” Brace said.
The BVU Men’s Tennis team recently spent spring break in Hilton Head, S.C., where Habermann has gone the past two years. The team was able to play with other Division III schools that they don’t normally get to play. Habermann and Brace finished with 3-2 record in doubles. Habermann, though, walked away with zero wins in singles play, but he is not discouraged.
“The schools we played this year in South Carolina were a bit more difficult than years in the past,” Habermann said. “This just means that I have to work harder in and out of practices for the next few weeks to help the team finish strong and qualify for the team conference tournament.”
At practices, the entire tennis team conditions themselves for the outdoor weather and get a lot of rest. Tennis matches for the BVU team can have long breaks in between or go back-to-back, which can be quite tiring, so it is important to maintain an excellent energy level.
“Tennis is a very physical and mental sport,” Habermann said. “You have to be quick with the ball, but it’s also a big mental game. You need to have a clear mind, which is something I sometimes struggle with.”
During long breaks between games, Habermann likes to shower, eat a snack, and take a 30-minute power nap. During back-to-back games, though, Coach Groen luckily has their backs.
“Coach Groen brings a cooler to each meet,” Habermann said. “There are drinks in there, but also Snicker bars for a quick sugar rush, I suppose. Free Snickers, so I usually try to take one.”
As Habermann finishes his third and fourth seasons within the next year, it is “go big or go home.” He has led the past two years in team wins for both singles and double games and wants to do the same this year. He has also set a goal to continue his positive win record from last year. He wants to go on to be a four-time all-conference singles selection, and to win big in tournament play.
“One of the big goals would be to make it to the finals of the conference tournament,” Habermann said. “That’s a really big goal, and if you place first or second, you go to the national tournament, which would be really cool because I don’t think BV has had a person do that in a very long time.”
Habermann and Brace have also made it their goal to be selected for an all-conference doubles team, which is an honor neither have received before. Both teammates are looking forward to working with each other in the upcoming year, as they polish their doubles team dynamic.
“Working with Chris is really fun,” Brace said. “He’s been the first partner I’ve ever really had that I can really trust, because not only is he very skilled, but his mental game is really strong, and he communicates really well, so it just makes it easy on me to play with him.”
Photo by Kyle Wiebers
