How MSU sophomore navigated way through a pandemic-shortened season

The squeaking of tennis shoes echoes across the maroon, concrete court. As the yellow tennis ball rockets from each racket, the tension and pressure intensifies inside each player.

Standing at 5-feet, 9-inches, Nicolas Ocana, clad in a black Adidas headband, squats down inches from the net, intensely analyzing his opponent, searching for any sliver of weakness to exploit. While the black headband may hide the sweat-laden, jet-black hair that lies beneath, Ocana’s fierce concentration is anything but hidden.

Hustling to his right to return a shot, Ocana unleashes a devastating forehand shot, slamming the ball down and out of reach to secure him and his opponent, Florian Broska, the point.

Ocana is currently a sophomore tennis player at Mississippi State University, majoring in industrial engineering. Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the shutdown of sports across the country last spring and throughout the summer months, Ocana’s freshman year of tennis was cut short.

Mississippi State’s tennis team could only compete in three conference matches before the pandemic took hold and forced the NCAA to cancel all sports for the spring season.

As a freshman, Ocana finished with 12 wins and 11 losses playing as a singles player and notched an impressive 13 wins with seven losses while playing doubles. MSU finished with a record of 9-6 in a pandemicshortened season, going winless in conference play. Currently, the Bulldogs have 10 wins and four losses this season, dropping their first three conference matches to Tennessee, Georgia and Texas A&M but picking up a recent conference victory against LSU. Ocana sits at four wins and eight losses while playing doubles this season.

The pandemic hits

Before hearing the news that all Mississippi State classes were shifting online, many students were enjoying their spring break and a well-deserved time away from school.

Days leading up to the cancellation of the season, Ocana and the Bulldogs were still rebounding from a tough loss to the No. 10-ranked Georgia Bulldogs that Sunday, March 8. The team was looking to reset to take on Texas A&M that upcoming

Friday, March 13.

Ocana remembered seeing the news that the remainder of his spring tennis season was being snatched away while watching a horror movie with some of his teammates. Talk about irony.

The moment Ocana became aware of the harsh news occurred when one of Ocana’s teammates was watching the SEC Network on their phone. They suddenly saw it was officially being announced the NCAA was canceling all remaining spring and winter sports due to the coronavirus pandemic. After playing tennis for so many years, the idea of his passion being ripped away from Ocana in the blink of an eye didn’t sit well with him.

“When it was announced that we wouldn’t be coming back, I was disappointed, but to be honest, I was more frustrated because I really wanted to come back,” Ocana said. “Playing tennis at this level and being a part of this school, both of these things have truly become a part of me.”

Like many people during the initial stages of the pandemic, Ocana wasn’t sure what the future held for him. Being an international student, he chose to return to his native country of Canada, particularly the city of Montreal. Ocana boarded a plane back to Canada the very next day.

However, like many people attempting to travel outside of the United States during the early stages of the pandemic, Ocana’s venture back to Canada didn’t come without its hiccups. According to Ocana’s mother, Lilia, Nicolas had to take four planes to make it back to Montreal. Nicolas mentioned that he usually only has to take one connection when going from Starkville to Montreal.

With the uncertainty of Nicolas’ safety, Lilia also had to wrestle with the many unknowns that surrounded the coronavirus. She didn’t know the likelihood of Nicolas being able to avoid the contraction of the virus while at the airport or how much of a hassle it would be for Nicolas to get through border patrol.

“That was a very difficult thing,” Lilia said. “We began to see all of the airport and border closures happen all in a matter of like two days. We didn’t know how protected he was going to be, on top of the fact that no one knew how to fully protect themselves from the virus.”

Coming together as family

Another wrench thrown in the Ocana family’s direction was the unease that came from each family member being in different places during the time that Nicolas was making his way back to Montreal. Lilia mentioned that she was living in Vancouver at the time while working as an English teacher, and her husband and daughter, Marc-andré and Carisa, were living in Montreal.

The idea of the entire family being separated during such a dramatic time was very frightening to Lilia. Being a close-knit family is something that she said she values. The moment when her son made it back safely from the United States and the entire family was able to gather under one roof was truly special to her.

“It was a very stressful time when we were waiting for hours while my husband was trying to find a plane ticket and make reservations,” Lilia said. “I was so grateful when we all met in the house. We cherished that moment so much when we were all together as a family, and more importantly that we were in good health.

Lilia credited a strong support system from the MSU tennis team as a major factor in helping her son maneuver through airport reservations and providing ease and relief during such a stressful time.

“He also had great support from his team,” Lilia said. “He had a lot of support and guidance on how to get to the airport, and many of his friends were also traveling back to Europe, so we knew he wasn’t alone. We knew he wasn’t going to be abandoned.”

Finding support in Starkville

The encouragement and comfort that Ocana felt from his teammates and coaches is a byproduct of one of the most attractive things that MSU and the city of Starkville has to offer to its incoming athletes or students.

Ocana mentioned the hospitality of Starkville as one of the first things that took him by surprise when visiting the campus of MSU.

“I think the difference here (Starkville) is that people are really into sports, and they also treat the athletes here really well,” Ocana said. “That’s something that struck me right away.”

Ocana referenced that coming to a small city like Starkville, compared to a metropolis like Montreal, brought with it many cultural differences. In particular, Ocana mentioned the French influence in Montreal and the dominant interest in fashion that exists there. For Ocana, Starkville struck him as more of a laid back and relaxed environment, compared with that of Montreal.

“Another difference here is that it’s truly a college-town environment,” Ocana said. “That’s the thing for me. There are obviously more things to do in Montreal, but the small-town feel of Starkville is something that I really love.”

Ocana said that the concept of a strong culture is also something that is stressed within the men’s and women’s tennis programs at State. Ocana referenced that head coach Matt Roberts of the Bulldogs likes to set aside 15 minutes before a practice or after a match to meet with his team to gauge how each player is doing mentally or how their past week has gone.

The acronym T.E.A.M. is used to assess each player’s toughness, energy, accountability and maturity during the week. A player’s toughness can be seen in how consistent they were in practice or even doing schoolwork or studying for tests. Maintaining positive energy during a match can be the deciding factor in keeping the momentum on your team’s side.

Ocana mentioned that having good accountability can be seen when a player is able to stay levelheaded during a tough week in school or practice and not letting outside obstacles affect their play on game day. The last category, maturity, can be seen in how each player can maintain their focus in either a practice or game. Having great maturity equates to decreasing the number of dips in production a player has during the week and not letting their emotions get the best of them in a high-pressure situation.

Maturity is one of the critical areas that Ocana has improved in since coming to Mississippi State as a freshman. Broska, a junior tennis player at MSU and business management major, said that Ocana has become a more vocal player in the past year.

“He’s becoming more of a leader,” Broska said. “In the beginning, he mostly listened to the older players and followed what they did, but as he’s learned more and gained experience, he feels like he has more of a voice to speak up.”