“I would rather be on the court than anywhere else”: Captain Lucas Bollinger discussed setting goals and leading the team
By DANIELLE WIRNOWSKI— sports@theaggie.org
Interviewed by Megan Joseph
With fall quarter underway and sports teams reaching the beginning or end of their season, the UC Davis men’s tennis team is deep into its preseason. The preseason includes tournaments, fundraisers and other events for the UC Davis Aggies to settle back into college play and the rigorous expectations of collegiate athletics.
The preseason is also a way for first-year students to acclimate and balance the fast pace of the quarter system and the demanding schedule of university athletics, as well as learning to rely on other team members for support.
The 2025-26 UC Davis men’s tennis team is made up of three first-years, three second-years, three third-years and one fourth-year. While the team has a higher number of lowerclassmen, four of the members have two or more years of experience — after preseason success, this leaves the Aggies with a strong potential in their upcoming spring season.
As the only fourth-year on the team, Captain Lucas Bollinger, a political science major, spoke with The Aggie about the upcoming season and his team’s focus on success.
“I think that leadership and having the guys get close together really leads to better results, even if you don’t have as talented or as seasoned [of] a team,” Bollinger said. “Being a good leader is very important to me this year, and it is something I am working on.”
Collegiate tennis standardly features three simultaneous doubles matches and six singles matches. Despite this isolated atmosphere, team bonding significantly impacts the outcomes of the season.
Bollinger emphasized leadership as integral to success and building team relationships.
“Team bonding things and doing things off the court [like playing cards] really pay off in the long run,” Bollinger said. “My [second] year, we had the best team but had the worst results because our team was not close.”
Bollinger also discussed the team’s goals for the upcoming season.
“The goal for [UC Davis men’s tennis team] stays the same: to win the Big West [Conference],” Bollinger said. “We’ve come really close in the past. We’ve lost in the semifinals [this past year]; we lost four or three in the semifinals last year. […] [It] was a really hard loss, to come so close. So, we are hoping to change that this year.”
As the oldest member, Bollinger offered advice for the younger players on the team.
“Trusting the process — that some days you’re not going to play your best — [and] coming back for that next day is really important,” Bollinger said. “It’s easy to […] go into a spiral and keep losing, and, if you keep losing, then you have a lack of confidence in yourself. But, I mean, personally, […] even if I lose, I want to be the person on the court playing. I would rather be on the court than anywhere else.”
This fall season, the men’s tennis team has seen decent results. Bollinger most recently made it to the finals of the Big West Invite in Santa Barbara on Oct. 4., and — despite losing in his finals match on Oct. 5 — still gave an impressive performance throughout the invite.
Other notable performances during the Big West Invite included Perry DiGiulio, a first-year communication major, and Rithvik Katpelly, a second-year undeclared major, who made it to the semifinals as a pair.
The UC Davis Aggies’ most-recent tournament is the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Tournament, recently concluding on Oct. 22 in Stockton, California. Next, the team will head down to San Diego from Nov. 4 to 8 for the San Diego Classic.
Written by: Danielle Wirnowski — sports@theaggie.org
