Photo by: UCR Athletics Media Relations
Ryan's Remarks: Another Blog From Men's Tennis Player Ryan Stanbury
4/17/2011 2:04:26 PM | Men's Tennis
UC Riverside men's tennis senior Ryan Stanbury has started writing a blog for gohighlanders.com. Curious about what it's like to be a student-athlete at an NCAA Division I institution? Then Ryan's Remarks are for you!
Check out Ryan's ninth installment on the 2010-11 Highlanders men's tennis program below, or brush up on his first eight blogs. Want to ask Ryan questions? Go ahead and email your questions and he will answer them for you on this blog.
This year for our annual spring break trip we flew up north to the Bay Area to play a couple matches against some formidable opponents. Coach Strother has scheduled this trip the past two years as an opportunity for several of our players who are from the Bay Area to get the opportunity to play in front of their family and friends. Kevin, Austin, Mike, and Sean all have family and friends who live up north and some of them were able to attend our matches.
From the moment our plane landed in Oakland until we took off back home in Sacramento, we were bombarded with rain. The downpour subsided momentarily on Tuesday, March 22nd, and we were able to get our match against St. Mary’s in, a match we lost 7-0.
Our match against Santa Clara was then cancelled because of the rain, and our match against Sacramento State was moved to an indoor tennis facility to combat the rain. This was a new experience for most of us from Southern California as we have virtually no indoor facilities down here and thus rarely if ever play inside. Although we played well and had several competitive matches, we fell to a good Sacramento State team 6-1.
A few highlights from the trip:
On this trip we were graced with the presence of strength and conditioning Coach Gary Heron. Gary’s quick wit and excellent food recommendations made for wonderful addition to our trip.
The rain kept us indoors for the majority of the trip, but we passed the time playing cards, watching movies, and eating. One of the more enjoyable activities during the trip was driving to San Francisco for the day and touring the city. First, we went to Fisherman’s Wharf and Pier 39 where we had a delicious bowl of clam chowder in the traditional San Francisco sourdough bread bowl.
While walking around the Wharf, Gary stopped into a saltwater taffy candy shop and selected one of every flavor of taffy for his wife, who needless to say is a huge saltwater taffy fan. After leaving the Wharf, we went on an afternoon jaunt around Union Square and then proceeded on to Chinatown. The rain subsided just enough for us to walk around and get a small taste of the city, before heading back to our hotel in the Silicon Valley.
On Thursday night, the team went for a team dinner to Mike Conroy’s house. “Momma and Poppa Con” as they are affectionately referred too, served a feast that could have fed a small army. There was salad galore, garlic bread sticks, three different kinds of pasta…spaghetti with meatballs, traditional meat lasagna, and my personal favorite chicken fettuccine.
To top things off, there was more dessert than the health-conscious Coach Strother would have cared to see, including a plethora of cookies, chocolate cake, brownies, and more. We attacked that food with the same ferocity as a Michael Conroy overhead, and at the end of the night we waddled out of there thoroughly enjoying our self-inflicted food coma.
The most memorable moments from this trip came at a wonderful seafood restaurant on the Sacramento River during our final evening. Being the popular place that this restaurant is, and seeing as it did not take reservations, we waited outside for what we thought would be an hour. However, this hour turned into an hour and 45 minutes, which elicited the ire of the usually restrained Gary Heron.
Once we got seated, the fun started…The cheeky Quoc Doan saved his best pranks of the year for this evening, coyly pulling the hostess aside and insisting that she bring the team nine adult menu’s and one children’s menu.
Quoc then pointed to the 6’5 KG and told the hostess he was the individual who required the children’s menu. At most restaurants, the serving staff does not play along with these jokes, but here not only did the hostess bring KG the children’s menu, she also kindly reminded the dismayed freshman that there were crayons and a coloring book inside.
Ok now back to the serious matters at hand, aka tennis. We have our season finale and the last home match for three seniors, the aforementioned Quoc Doan, our Captain Sean Peterson, and me. Besides being an emotional day for us, we also have a huge match against UC Davis that will determine conference seeding for the Big West Conference Tournament at Indian Wells later this month. UCR has lost to UC Davis by identical scores of 4-3 the last three years, and we are hoping to turn that score in our favor tomorrow.
It has been four years since the UCR men’s tennis team has won a Big West Conference regular season match, and speaking for the three seniors, I can tell you we desperately want to drop-kick that large elephant out of the room. The match is at high noon, so come out with your sun tan lotion and your favorite mixed drink (or four) and support the Highlanders.
Check out Ryan's ninth installment on the 2010-11 Highlanders men's tennis program below, or brush up on his first eight blogs. Want to ask Ryan questions? Go ahead and email your questions and he will answer them for you on this blog.
This year for our annual spring break trip we flew up north to the Bay Area to play a couple matches against some formidable opponents. Coach Strother has scheduled this trip the past two years as an opportunity for several of our players who are from the Bay Area to get the opportunity to play in front of their family and friends. Kevin, Austin, Mike, and Sean all have family and friends who live up north and some of them were able to attend our matches.
From the moment our plane landed in Oakland until we took off back home in Sacramento, we were bombarded with rain. The downpour subsided momentarily on Tuesday, March 22nd, and we were able to get our match against St. Mary’s in, a match we lost 7-0.
Our match against Santa Clara was then cancelled because of the rain, and our match against Sacramento State was moved to an indoor tennis facility to combat the rain. This was a new experience for most of us from Southern California as we have virtually no indoor facilities down here and thus rarely if ever play inside. Although we played well and had several competitive matches, we fell to a good Sacramento State team 6-1.
A few highlights from the trip:
On this trip we were graced with the presence of strength and conditioning Coach Gary Heron. Gary’s quick wit and excellent food recommendations made for wonderful addition to our trip.
The rain kept us indoors for the majority of the trip, but we passed the time playing cards, watching movies, and eating. One of the more enjoyable activities during the trip was driving to San Francisco for the day and touring the city. First, we went to Fisherman’s Wharf and Pier 39 where we had a delicious bowl of clam chowder in the traditional San Francisco sourdough bread bowl.
While walking around the Wharf, Gary stopped into a saltwater taffy candy shop and selected one of every flavor of taffy for his wife, who needless to say is a huge saltwater taffy fan. After leaving the Wharf, we went on an afternoon jaunt around Union Square and then proceeded on to Chinatown. The rain subsided just enough for us to walk around and get a small taste of the city, before heading back to our hotel in the Silicon Valley.
On Thursday night, the team went for a team dinner to Mike Conroy’s house. “Momma and Poppa Con” as they are affectionately referred too, served a feast that could have fed a small army. There was salad galore, garlic bread sticks, three different kinds of pasta…spaghetti with meatballs, traditional meat lasagna, and my personal favorite chicken fettuccine.
To top things off, there was more dessert than the health-conscious Coach Strother would have cared to see, including a plethora of cookies, chocolate cake, brownies, and more. We attacked that food with the same ferocity as a Michael Conroy overhead, and at the end of the night we waddled out of there thoroughly enjoying our self-inflicted food coma.
The most memorable moments from this trip came at a wonderful seafood restaurant on the Sacramento River during our final evening. Being the popular place that this restaurant is, and seeing as it did not take reservations, we waited outside for what we thought would be an hour. However, this hour turned into an hour and 45 minutes, which elicited the ire of the usually restrained Gary Heron.
Once we got seated, the fun started…The cheeky Quoc Doan saved his best pranks of the year for this evening, coyly pulling the hostess aside and insisting that she bring the team nine adult menu’s and one children’s menu.
Quoc then pointed to the 6’5 KG and told the hostess he was the individual who required the children’s menu. At most restaurants, the serving staff does not play along with these jokes, but here not only did the hostess bring KG the children’s menu, she also kindly reminded the dismayed freshman that there were crayons and a coloring book inside.
Ok now back to the serious matters at hand, aka tennis. We have our season finale and the last home match for three seniors, the aforementioned Quoc Doan, our Captain Sean Peterson, and me. Besides being an emotional day for us, we also have a huge match against UC Davis that will determine conference seeding for the Big West Conference Tournament at Indian Wells later this month. UCR has lost to UC Davis by identical scores of 4-3 the last three years, and we are hoping to turn that score in our favor tomorrow.
It has been four years since the UCR men’s tennis team has won a Big West Conference regular season match, and speaking for the three seniors, I can tell you we desperately want to drop-kick that large elephant out of the room. The match is at high noon, so come out with your sun tan lotion and your favorite mixed drink (or four) and support the Highlanders.
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