By Aaron Reekie

For Loper freshman Alvaro Moreno, a computer science major from Madrid, Spain, coming to the U.S. and playing tennis at UNK was really exciting.

Before coming to the U.S., Moreno was ranked 304th in the country of Spain and trained hard to try improving that ranking before coming to UNK. “When I was 16 and 17, I would train three to four hours in a day. It was very tough work, but it was worth it in the long run,” he said.

“I was looking forward to finding a great group of people in a team, improving my tennis skill level and English level and having fun and meeting new people at the school,” he said.

Moreno was excited for his first college, but then he said the tennis team got called into a meeting with the athletic director and other head athletic staff here. “I did not know what the meeting was about, but they started talking more and more, and then they got to the part where they said they were going to cut the tennis team,” Moreno said.

“It was really sad news, because after five months, I have the feeling that we are all a family, and it was like they were destroying our family,” Moreno said. “But, coach told the team we still have one more season, and this is the most important one,” he said.

He will be transferring to UNL after this semester, and will be with his brother, who currently plays tennis for the Huskers.

He is looking forward. Morena said he is really excited to start the new experience in a bigger college and in a bigger city like Lincoln with his brother. “I have visited UNL before to see him. We went to a Husker football game; it was a really fun experience — especially to share it with my brother.”

“Hopefully we can get the win and start out really well in our conference matches,” he said.

Moreno offered some final words about the Loper team and his first year at UNK. “I love my team because they are my family here, and I’m sure we are going to have the best season that UNK men’s tennis has ever had,” he said. “I will miss my friends that I have made here at UNK.”

The tennis team is in the middle of their season, and will compete against Washburn University Friday, March 16. This is the first conference match of the season. It will be played at home at Harmon Park.

“It is going to be a really good match, I think,” Moreno said. “I think we will have to be really good that day and play really well too,” he said.