After a lackluster 3-8 season last spring which included two separate three-match losing streaks, the men’s tennis team is preparing to make a strong impression come spring break. Though several powerful players have moved on from the team, others have appeared to take their places, and still others have returned from a single-season hiatus.
Head Coach Carol Pillsworth is looking forward to a much-improved team this season. “We are much, much stronger than last year,” Pillsworth said. “We’ve got a lot of depth.”
Depth was a substantial problem for the Red Hawks last year, when two of the team’s leading players were unable to compete. One of those players was current senior co-captain Mike Heligman, who unexpectedly went on co-op, leaving a void at the top of the ladder.
“The talent has to be matched to even have a shot at winning,” according to Pillsworth. This year, Heligman has returned to the top of the ladder, and junior co-captain Joe Byrne is playing at second singles, filling in the void left by the departures of Borjan Gagoski and Joaquin Denoya.
Also included on the expected singles roster are freshman Aashish Kabra, a new find from Houston, Texas, and freshman Ranjeet Minocha, who made a fabulous showing at the ITA Championships last fall.
Upperclassman additions to the roster include junior Lamaar Walker, who has been a regular sight in extracurricular tennis on campus for several years, as well as seniors Tim Camitta, Tim A. Fill, and Adam Stratling.
Pillsworth expects that Skidmore, the league leader last year, will continue its trend of posting good season performances, along with Vassar and St. Lawrence.
Both Skidmore and Vassar graduated their top two players last year; they may both be more vulnerable this season. Saint Lawrence, on the other hand, had an unusually young team last year and can be expected to post an improvement on last season’s already decent performance.
RPI heads to Hilton Head, S.C., for training and practice matches during spring break. First up on their schedule is Webster University, followed by Philadelphia Biblical University and Defiance College.
The team needs to post wins, or at least strong performances, in these matches to reverse the losing trend they faced at the end of last spring.
“We’ll have a better impression of where we stand when we go down to Hilton Head…It will be good preparation for the rest of our season up here,” said junior Joe Black, a returning member of the team.
“We’ve got a lot of new talented additions to the team this semester, which will make us stronger in both the singles and doubles lineups,” said Byrne. “We’ve been practicing hard for a few weeks now and will definitely be ready for our four opening matches coming up over spring break. All in all we should have a great season.”
Watch for improved results for the men’s tennis team, with some familiar faces returning, some distant faces reappearing, and some new faces joining in for the upcoming season.
