The freshman year of Marian University tennis player Noah Roberts has included a little bit of everything.
In the fall, Roberts won all but one of his 11 singles matches for the Knights, proved a surprisingly quick study in doubles competition and was one of 15 players selected to the All-Crossroads League team by the conference’s coaches.
Roberts’ momentum was abruptly halted by a torn meniscus in his left knee that ruled out him playing during the spring season. He underwent surgery Wednesday at Ortho Indy in Indianapolis.
During winter workouts, Roberts began feeling discomfort in his left knee while making sharp cuts on the tennis court. Up to that point, he was living up to his coach’s expectations, if not exceeding them.
“Noah was having a great season,” Knights coach Steve Mackell said. “He came in with a lot of skill and a lot of ability. But I was nervous he wasn’t going to make the lineup in doubles because he hadn’t played that in high school.”
Roberts adapted to Mackell’s aggressive doubles philosophy of both players rushing the net after every serve. He posted a 6-4 mark teaming with junior Alex Wittenbaum and went 1-2 when partnered with Terre Haute South product Nate Bogle.
The doubles strategy contradicts what Roberts prefers to do in singles, which is work the baseline, grind out points and utilize a powerful backhand to record the winning point.
“It’s kind of a weird transition and was definitely hard the first couple times. I never really played doubles in high school,” Roberts said. “I kind of liked it because you bring a lot more energy out there. I’ve always been by myself, but it’s not about you anymore. It’s about helping your partner.”
There are no seniors on Marian’s current roster — which, combined with the eventual arrival of incoming freshmen Hunter Sylvester (Martinsville), Greg Fulling (Brownsburg), Will Boyer (Concord) and A.J. Antonelli (Penn), should increase the competition level for starting spots in the Knights’ lineup.
It’s Roberts’ hope that he’s able to rehabilitate the knee in time to use the summer months to prepare for his sophomore season.
“I want to be playing again by mid-May and be on top of my game by June,” said Roberts, who advanced to the semifinals of the state singles tournament as a Franklin senior before bowing out with a 25-3 record. “If it doesn’t happen in June, maybe July.”
