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The seventh-ranked Texas men's tennis team is in Seattle for the ITA National Team Indoor Championship. Junior Jonah Kane-West shared some pre-tournament thoughts with TexasSports.com as the Longhorns prepare for their first-round match against Alabama.

I had been to Seattle before when I played at Tulane University, so I was looking forward to coming back this week. Seattle is one of my favorite cities in the U.S. -- good food, good music, and I'm a big fan of Seattle's great seafood. Some of us roamed around downtown today and headed to Pike's Place Market to see a just a little bit of the culture this place has to offer. 

We arrived yesterday and went to the Nordstrom Tennis Center on the UW campus to get in our first practice here. Our guys look sharp right now. We seem to be getting more of an edge. Coach Center did a good job of getting us together this morning for a study hall session, so everyone got some work done. 

With our midterms coming around, we've really made an effort to keep up with our academic work, and it's so important to do that on the road when we're missing classes. We're playing night matches this week, so we have the whole day to get a lot of class work done.

Coach Center asked me several matches ago to be on the court during our players' matches, whenever I'm not playing, because there's a new NCAA rule that allows you to have three coaches on the courts. Coach felt I would be a good candidate for that, so I tried it out in our second match against Clemson and supported the guys. My role is to be a great source of energy and inspiration for the guys and to give some good strategic advice.

Along with academics, our No. 1 focus is about tennis and preparing for our match against Alabama. But, along the way, I'll go have some sushi and have a nice time here in Seattle. But, once we get started with the matches, it will be all about preparation.

Hook `em!
Jonah