West, Southard thriving in first year playing together

In their first season playing together, Charlie West and Thomas Southard are already seeing success as a duo.

Last Friday, April 12, the duo won the SEMO Conference doubles championship over their teammates Matthew Austin and Blake Schreckenberg.

The four commonly play against each other at practice, but not often in a match setting with something on the line.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Southard said of playing his teammates. “Every time we play them we seem to go to a tiebreaker.”

Friday was no different. Austin and Schreckenberg took the first set, but West and Southard bounced back to win the second set and send the championship match into a 10-point tiebreaker.

“I just told them to make sure they play like they aren’t playing their teammates,” Notre Dame coach Pershard Owens said. “Today they really did that.”

The idea to pair the duo of West and Southard together came on a whim at a practice.

“One practice we just wanted to try it,” Owens said. “It just clicked and it’s been like that ever since.”

After West and Southard won the final point, the four converged on the middle of the court, all smiling, to shake hands and congratulate one another.

“They’re two really great players,” Southard said. “It’s a lot of fun playing them and it’s always competitive.”

Southard said playing against teammates makes things challenging in terms of strategy.

“It just makes it a lot tougher,” Southard said. “My serve normally throws a lot of people off but they knew exactly where it was going so it really changes the game.”

West and Southard have been crucial for the Bulldogs not only this year, but the last three years.

Now, paired together, they are continuing to impact the Bulldogs in a massive way.

Notre Dame (7-0) returns to action at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, April 17, when the Bulldogs hit the road to take on Poplar Bluff.