Tennis stars Ryan Preston and Vijay Paul help the Commodores open the 2008 season Sunday against Michigan State. Here's what they had to say about the upcoming season:

"As far as expectations go, we really don't have any right now. We know we have some good talent and could potentially play great this year, but we haven't competed togther yet, so it remains to be seen where we stand as a team. So far, especially considering the number of freshmen we have, we have looked good in practice for the past couple of weeks and everybody seems to be hitting the ball well. As a team we haven't accomplished anything yet, so i'm excited to get after it and prove ourselves."

On their preparations:

"We've had some good practices this week. Our doubles on the whole looks stronger than it did at this point last year and that was one of our problems last season - we didn't get into a good aggressive doubles groove until at least SEC play. I hope that some of the freshman get a chance to see action early and experience what I saw last year, and hopefully I can help make their
transition into college tennis matches as effective as possible. We all are capable of playing good singles at any given time."

On Sunday's match:

"I'm looking for our 3 doubles teams to start off quickly and aggressively against Mich State this coming weekend. The start in doubles, especially in the first match of the year, can be a great stepping stone so we can start off well."