Men's Tennis 2011 Preview

Several new faces will take on prominent roles for the Grove City College men’s tennis team this spring as the Wolverines compete for their 21st consecutive Presidents’ Athletic Conference title.

Head coach Joe Walters, the reigning five-time conference Coach of the Year, will count on five returning regulars and three other veterans this season.

Seniors Ricky Garrett and Marc Mentzer are expected to be fixtures in the Grove City lineup this season.

A three-year letterman, Garrett manned the No. 1 singles and doubles spots as a junior and will likely be at the top of the lineup again this year.

Mentzer is a two-year letterwinner who returns to the program after studying abroad for a year. Mentzer has played extensively in the fifth and sixth singles spots throughout his career but could move into the middle of the singles lineup.

Juniors Steve Harrison and Scott Yanak are back for their third season at Grove City. Harrison has seen part-time duty during his first two seasons and is expected to battle for a full-time starting post in 2011.

Yanak is a two-year starter who has primarily played singles action. He will also likely be a fixture in Grove City’s starting lineup again.

A five-man sophomore class is also expected to contribute this season. Returning lettermen Caleb Fuller and Anthony Rosselli both earned conference titles as rookies. Both players are expected to again claim spots in the lineup.

Sophomores Josiah Becker and Dan McLaughlin saw duty as reserves during the 2010 season. Both players will compete for starting spots this season.

Also in the mix is sophomore transfer Andrew Deckert, who lettered as a freshman at Lebanon Valley College.

Grove City faces another rugged non-conference schedule that includes matches with regional powers Allegheny and Oberlin. The Wolverines also play scholarship programs Mercyhurst and Malone this spring.

Conference play begins March 25 against visiting Thiel. The Presidents’ Athletic Conference Championships will be held April 29-30 at the Pennbriar Club in Erie, Pa.

The 2011 Thomas More College men’s tennis team will be under the direction of second-year head coach Mike Selm. The Saints, who finished 1-11 overall last season and 1-4 in the PAC, return four players from last season’s squad.

Returning are senior Evan Bryan, juniors Andrew Hetzer and Ricky Barria and sophomore Gabe Measner.

Bryan played at No. 2 singles last season and posted a 2-12 record and placed fourth at the PAC Championship. Hetzer was 6-8 at No. 1 singles and had Thomas More’s highest finish at the PAC Championship last season as he finished third.

Barria split time between No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6 singles and combined to finish 1-9 last season, while he finished fourth at the PAC Championship playing in the No. 6 singles flight. Measner joined the team late in the season in 2010) and had a 1-5 record playing at No. 6 singles.

Thomas More opens the season on March 19 when it travels Berea, Ohio to play Baldwin-Wallace College.

The Washington & Jefferson College men’s tennis team looks for continued improvement in its second season under Head Coach Tim Fusina. The Presidents posted a 3-7 match record last year and placed third at the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Championships.

Highlighting the 2010 Red & Black’s season was Chris Faulk earning PAC Player of the Year after winning the No. 1 singles bracket and leading W&J to a third-place finish at the league championships. He became the third W&J men’s tennis player in the past 21 years to accomplish that feat.

Faulk joins Fusina as an assistant coach this season and the task to find his replacement will be difficult. Both coaches look to guide a host of newcomers, seven in total, this season.

Two starters, seniors David Dubois (right) and Justin Mondok, return after posting solid numbers in the No. 3 and No. 6 slots last season. Dubois amassed a 6-6 individual record, while Mondok was a part of two victories in doubles play last spring.

The Presidents open their 2011 campaign at the Janet L. Swanson Tennis Courts on Mar. 16 with a match against Ohio Athletic Conference opponent Mount Union (4:00 pm).

Though this year’s Waynesburg University men’s tennis team is short on numbers, they bring plenty of experience with them to the courts. With just six men on this year’s team, head coach Ron Christman, who is coming into his 13th year at the head of the program, is fielding his smallest team ever. However, four of those players are returning starters, and three of them are former All-PAC performers.

“We should be pretty solid, but the end results will have as much to do with what the other teams in the conference did in recruiting,” Christman said.

As the lone senior on this year’s team, Emile Khoury will be counted upon for production and leadership. He is coming off of his third-straight winning season as a singles player. Last year, he tied for the team lead in wins and put together a 7-5 overall record at third singles. He went 3-2 in PAC regular season play and placed second at the number-three spot at the conference tournament. Khoury also found success as a doubles player. He teamed with current junior Peter Mally to go 5-7 for the year at number-one doubles and the pair boasted a winning record (3-2) against conference foes. Speaking of Mally, he spent last year as the team’s number-one singles player and went 2-8 overall.

Last season, Jon Anderson and Jason Logan made big splashes in their debut years with the Yellow Jackets. Anderson put together the best singles record (7-3) on the squad and went a perfect 6-0 at sixth singles. He put together a 4-1 overall solo record against conference foes and placed second at the PAC championships in the number-six singles flight. Logan, who was playing as a first-year sophomore, went 6-5 in singles action, with most of his time being served at the number-five slot. Logan just missed out on All-PAC honors, but won his third-place match at the conference’s postseason tournament.

The Anderson/Logan duo was just as good, if not better, when paired up for doubles competition. The two went 6-3 at number-three doubles, which tied them for the most doubles win on the squad. They were 5-1 against PAC opponents and wrapped up the season by placing second and being named All-PAC at third doubles.

While Khoury, Mally, Anderson and Logan should provide their share of wins in both the singles and doubles ranks, another returner and the team’s only newcomer will be counted upon to carry their own weight if the Yellow Jackets hope to remain near the top of the PAC.

Sophomore Joe Kromer is back with the team, but did not see any court time in 2010. Freshman Nate Huffman, meanwhile, is already drawing praise from his new head coach.

“He is a solid player with huge potential and he is learning quickly,” Christman said. “He will be a strong addition to the team especially as the season progresses and he continues to improve. He is also a very good student.”

Along with some new faces seeing their first collegiate action, the Yellow Jackets will also have a new home site to call their own. This past summer, Waynesburg University installed a top-notch six-court facility just outside of the borough of Waynesburg. It is located just beyond the right field wall of the baseball field and both players and coach are ready to break it in.

“The new courts are a real asset and everyone from both the men’s and women’s teams like playing on them,” Christman said.

Six players are the minimum amount to deploy for a college tennis match without forfeiting a flight, and the Westminster College men's tennis team exceeded its previous year's win total in 2010 with just a half-dozen players. Still, the Titans left plenty of room for improvement for the 2011 season after posting a 3-9 record and a 3-2 mark in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) last year.

The Titans placed fifth out of six teams in the PAC Championships to end the season.

Twelfth-year head coach Scott Renninger welcomes back four out of six lettermen from last year's team while also adding three freshmen and one sophomore to the mix, giving the Titans eight players entering the 2011 season.

"We need to first establish a lineup and compete," Renninger said. "All four lettermen are coming back and we will continue to get better."

Westminster's three wins in 2010 came after defeating conference foes Thomas More (6-3), Bethany (5-4), and Washington & Jefferson (5-4) in the regular season, but the Titans could not advance enough players in the conference championships to finish above Bethany and W&J in the final PAC standings.

Returning to the lineup will be the team's wins leader from 2010 in junior Derek Fredrickson, who was the lone Titan to advance to a PAC championship match as he placed second in the No. 5 singles bracket to earn second-team all-PAC honors.

Fredrickson (7-6) led the Titans in singles wins and the tandem of Frederickson and Brad Thomas led the team in doubles victories (8-6). Thomas returns for his sophomore season after logging a 4-8 record at No. 6 singles last year.

Sophomore Sean Black was the other PAC third-place finisher for Westminster at No. 4 singles. Black posted a 6-9 record at No. 4 singles last year.

"Derek is getting better and better, Brad's improvements have been amazing and Sean had a lot of success for a freshman and he will continue to get better as he physically develops," Renninger said.

The other returning player is junior Drew Trifelos, who returns for his third season after playing at No. 1 doubles and No. 3 singles in 2010.

"If Drew will settle in and utilize his significant skills, he'll improve his playing status immensely," Renninger added.

Westminster plays the first of 17 dual matches Saturday as it hosts an indoor match vs. Penn State-Altoona at 1 p.m. The Titans will also play three matches at Hilton Head Island, S.C., March 13-17 and their first outdoor match on campus is slated for March 28 vs. Bethany.