The Ferris State men’s tennis team has posted a 9-5 record so far this season, and they have done it with big help from Tyler Bridges.
The junior from Thousand Oaks, Calif. transferred to Ferris State this year after playing tennis for two years for Seminole State College, a community college in Oklahoma. Coming from community college, Bridges definitely has enough game to compete at the Division II level. In his first season as a Bulldog, Bridges has posted an 11-3 record in singles and a 9-5 mark in doubles.
“Prior to Ferris, I was at a junior college in Oklahoma. During my last year I was contacted by coach Berryhill and asked about looking into Ferris. After looking into the program I became interested and decided to sign in April of 2014. Coach Berryhill’s experience and leadership drew me to the program more than anything. Most universities are lacking the skills he possesses,” said Bridges.
Bridges has become a solid player for the Bulldogs that the team can count on to play well day in and day out. His teammate, senior Jordan Helderman from Medina, Ohio had only positive words to say about his fellow Dawg.
“What makes him a solid player is his attitude on the court and his experience. His strengths are his mental toughness and groundstrokes and volleys.”
The Bulldogs are just one win short of tying their win total for last year’s season, but currently have ten fewer losses than the previous year. Bridges claims that an acceptable ending to the season for him would be a trip to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament.
“I would say our first goal is to win the GLIAC. Second, make a run in the NCAA tournament and make the Sweet 16 out in Arizona. We most definitely have the talent to accomplish our goals, we just need to keep fighting hard,” said Bridges.
Bridges hasn’t been a Bulldog for long, but he is fitting right in to the program. In fact, he already seems to have a handle on the team’s rivalries.
“I’m still pretty new to the team, but beating Grand Valley a couple weeks ago was pretty sweet,” said Bridges.
Bridges and the rest of the Bulldogs will travel to the Upper Peninsula to play Michigan Tech on Saturday and Lake Superior State on Sunday to try to improve their conference record to 5-0.