Tennis teams look forward to spring

By Leo D. Rommel

Considering what they had to work with, the fall seasons weren’t all that bad for the men’s and women’s tennis teams.

Both teams wrapped up seasons that were, on paper, not up to scratch by putting the finishing touches on a sweep against Wagner that originally began on Oct. 11 but, because of rain showers, was suspended midway through. For the men, it ended a four-game skid while the women rebounded impressively from a 5-2 defeat to Manhattan two days earlier.

Because the Oct. 28 matches at Drexel were rained out, the Wagner contests would ultimately be the last matches for both teams for the fall season.

“It was a good way to end the season,” said freshman Will Haight, who won at second singles and first doubles against Wagner. “It’s a good thing the Drexel match got rained out because they’re a very good team and we wanted to go out with a win.”

Winless in its first six matches, the youthful and untested men’s team (2-10 overall) stumbled out of the gates this season.

According to an Oct. 20 article in The Rider News, six of the nine players on the roster were freshmen and only one player, junior Jim Leone, was a returnee from last year’s squad. Everyone else was working on their first full collegiate season.

“We saw improvement in ourselves throughout the season,” said freshman Marc Ashed, who won at third singles against Wagner. “So the win against Wagner was not a surprise.”

Against Wagner, Leone won at fourth singles while freshman Mike Straub won at fifth singles and freshman Luke Sproviero won at sixth singles.

According to Ashed, sophomore standout Casey Jedlinski is scheduled to return for the spring season. Jedlinski, who won 10 of 15 single matches last year, sat out the entire fall season because he wanted to dedicate more of his time to school.

“Casey is our top player,” said Ashed. “He should make our lineup better, faster and stronger in the spring and years beyond.”

The women’s team, meanwhile, battled its own demons by working with a unit that was tremendously undermanned.

The squad had only five players who were active all season, therefore forcing the team to default its No. 3 doubles and No. 6 singles in each and every match.

Taking into consideration the team was behind in each and every contest before taking a swing of its racket, its final record (5-7 overall) is quite astonishing.

“As a team, we didn’t concentrate on what we didn’t have,” said senior captain Kelly-Ann Chouinard, who won at fifth singles against Wagner. “We concentrated on what we did have and what we could do.”

Four of the five players on the team concluded the fall season with individual records of .500 or better. Chouinard and senior Caitlin Crawbuck finished 8-4 while senior Devin Crawbuck and freshman Kristina Paich finished 6-6.

According to Chouinard, the team will have extra help next season with the addition of sophomore Danielle Cheung, a 5- foot- 8 native of Singapore who will bring more flair to a group of established veterans.

With Cheung, the team will no longer have to forfeit any of its singles or doubles in the spring.

“Danielle will be a good starter,” said senior Devin Crawbuck. “She’ll help us better prepare for the spring opener in late March when we play Niagara, who’s the best team in the MAAC right now.”