As the Washington and Lee Men’s Tennis season kicks into full swing, team captain Michael Holt,‘16, looks to continue building on what has already been a spectacular career.

Holt was named a First Team All-American in his two previous seasons and garnered the ODAC Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award last year. He has also advanced to the semi and quarter finals in the NCAA tournament in doubles during his first and second years, respectively.

With a career record in singles of 33-14 and 53-11 in doubles, Holt is well on his way to achieving triple digits both in doubles and total wins. He said that he has to credit part of his success to solid teamwork.

  “I have to give a lot of credit to my partners,” Holt said. “In the past playing with [senior Taylor Shamshiri] and this year playing with [senior Christopher Hu], Chris is an incredible player and a good friend of mine.”

Now, as a co-captain alongside fellow junior Sam Borowski, Holt seeks to help lead his team to a winning season and a deeper post-season run than in the teams’ past seasons.

Holt has already helped the team climb to a 7-2 record this season with a score of doubles victories. Injuries have been an issue for the team though according to Holt, including the recent ankle sprain suffered by Holt’s doubles partner, Hu.

“It’s important feeling comfortable out there together as opposed to being comfortable individually; you work as a unit, you move as a unit,” Holt said. “Not playing with Chris will be an adjustment for sure, but as [we] get more repetitions out there together and get comfortable out there together… I think we’ll still be a good team.”

With his can-do attitude, good work ethic, and natural talent, Holt has proven to be an effective leader and an excellent model for his teammates to follow.

“He’s very professional with what he does,” said sophomore teammate Will Bannister. “He eats well, he practices harder than just about everyone on the team, and he’s just a very sensible, intelligent guy. You look at him and you think, well if I want to be a good tennis player, I need to try to do the things he’s doing.”

Holt and the Generals will hit the court again against Mary Washington on March 14 before coming home to play Bridgewater in the Duchossois Tennis Center.