Men’s tennis senior Joe Delinks provides experience for program

The world is full of leaders.

This year, the UCF men's tennis team has one.

In his fourth and final year with the program, Joe Delinks is doing his part to be a leadership figure on the team.

"It's my fourth year, so I've seen it all," Delinks said. "It's tough, with workouts three times a week at 6:30 a.m. You've got to be dedicated to the sport and dedicated to the team. It's something that I love to do. I'm gonna miss it when I graduate, that's for sure."

Delinks certainly held his own on the team last spring, leading the Knights with 11 dual match victories.

UCF men's tennis coach Bobby Cashman feels that Delinks brings a certain fire to the team that inspires the younger players.

"The thing that Joe does very well is he does a good job in the gym and he does a good job in practice when we're competing. He fights hard, so I think that's good for the younger guys to see, because he likes to compete," said Cashman, who's in his 13th year with the program. "He likes to go at people in doubles and slam the ball. It's fun to watch, too, so I think he brings that component to the team."

Cashman went on to explain how crucial it is to have a player fill that leadership role, stating that all sports need a figure for younger players to look up to.

"It's paramount for a successful team. If you don't have a leader, you're not going to be a very good team no matter what sport," Cashman said. "It's paramount to have good leadership at the top with the juniors and seniors who work hard and lead the team correctly."

Delinks said this is especially true for the Knights.

"It's really important. We have a transfer from Clemson; his name's Juan [Bolona]. This is his first year at UCF so he had to get acclimated," Delinks said."I like to show the guys at UCF how everything works around here."

As for Delinks' goals for this season, he'd like to see the team ranked in at least the top 50 and, of course, make the NCAA tournament.

The team recently suffered a close 4-3 loss to Wake Forest in its first match of the season, but Delinks feels that the team will learn from it and improve.

"It was really close; we had a lot of chances," Delinks said "They were the first match of the season. We learned a lot, and we'll improve for sure. We got a long season so I'm not worried; Wake Forest is a good team."

Delinks and the rest of the Knights will get a chance to show some improvements when they host Jacksonville on Saturday.