Moses Hutchison named CAC men’s tennis Player of the Week

By SEAN MOORE

Staff Writer

Moses Hutchison was recently named CAC Men’s Tennis Player of the Week, making this the second week in a row that a UMW tennis player was recognized by the conference. 

“It’s my first big college tennis award,” he said. “That’s exciting.”

Hutchison, a sophomore business administration major, started playing tennis when he was seven years old because his older sister had recently started taking lessons, and has been playing ever since.

“Pretty much everything I do right now, everything I have done, revolves around tennis for almost my whole life,” he said.

Hutchison has had to sacrifice a lot for tennis, including different sports and other interests, but said that he does not regret the decisions that he has made along the way.

“The rewards I get from my teammates, some of the big wins I’ve had, some of the upsets I’ve lost, I would say overall I enjoyed that more than what I’ve sacrificed,” he said. “I love tennis. I wouldn’t keep doing it if I didn’t love it.”

Hutchison’s favorite moment came during a match against the University of Redlands, located in California, earlier this season.

“It was tied four all and it came down to my match. I was down a set and I came back and won and we ended up beating that team for the first time in eight years.”

But it has not always been easy for Hutchison. One of his biggest setbacks came when he was in high school.

“I lost interest in tennis,” he said. “Stopped playing tournaments, thought maybe I wouldn’t play college tennis, but then flipped it around, started practicing again, playing tournaments, moved up the rankings almost 2,000 spots in my section and committed here. I realized I had such a love for the sport, I had to keep going with it.” 

Hutchison said that the tennis program was a major factor in deciding to come to UMW. “When I talked to the coach I thought he was a really nice guy. I thought I would improve a lot here,” he said.

Even though people may think of tennis as an individual sport, matches at the collegiate level are won and lost as a team. Because of this, Hutchison said the camaraderie and friendships that have come from the sport have been some of the biggest benefits. 

“All the guys on the team are like my brothers, they are my best friends. So even though it’s individual and you are on your own court playing your own match, you are right there next to the other guy. I’m playing for you, I’m winning for you, it’s all for the team. You need five points to win a match and that is not coming from just your individual court.”

“At the end of the day, if I played a bad match but our team still won, I would just be happy for the other guys. Way to put me on your back, I’ll put you on my back next time,” he continued. 

When he is not playing tennis, Hutchison enjoys hiking and making music. “A little bit of everything honestly,” he said. “Little bit of EDM, little bit of rap, alternative, rock. I play guitar and I like to attempt at producing.” 

Even though he is only a sophomore, Hutchison already has plans for what he is going to do after graduating.

“I plan on going to law school, so I feel like there won’t be a ton of time for [tennis],” he said. But if I end up going for a master’s program I might be an assistant coach at a college or teach as a side job, something like that. I would never see myself putting it down completely.”

In the short term, Hutchison is hoping to make the NCAA tournament. “That’s probably my biggest goal,” he said. “It just depends on how we do for the rest of the season. It’s a grind but it would be fun.”