Tennis teams winless in spring season

By Leo D. Rommel

Two familiar enemies are on the prowl again.

Youth and inexperience, the same problems that plagued the men’s and women’s tennis teams last semester, have resurfaced, said Head Coach Ed Torres. The result are a pair of winless teams since the start of the spring season – the women are 0-2 and the men are 0-4 – and the teams have lost by the same score of 7-0 in all six games.

“It’s hard for 17-or 18-year-olds to go out there and play competitively against seniors from other schools,” said Torres, who is in his 12th year as coach. “No matter how much potential the player has, a freshman has to be extremely good to overtake a senior, and that rarely happens.”

The men’s team benefited largely last year from a roster jam-packed with experienced players, particularly three seniors and one junior. Because of graduation and transfer, the freshman-dominated 2007 unit is a group that, in spite of its capabilities, simply hasn’t ripened yet.

“This is a rebuilding year,” said junior Jim Leone, one of two returnees from last year’s squad. “Five of our six singles players are freshmen. Also, other teams receive 10 to 13 full scholarships to play tennis at their schools. Rider gives our team one to split between everyone who is on a scholarship.”

Regardless, the team remains competitive. In an April 3 match against Monmouth, freshmen Marc Ashed and Will Haight teamed up for a 9-7 win at second doubles with sophomore Casey Jedlinski, going to three sets at No. 1 singles before falling.

The team received a significant boost when Jedlinski, who won 10 of 15 single matches in 2006, rejoined the team after sitting out the entire fall season to rededicate himself to his studies. Even if he remains arguably the top player on the roster, missing half a season – plus an unforeseen injury – has temporarily lessened his quality of play a notch or two, he said.

“In the fall, I took off but I still played tournaments and matches on my own until I suffered an ankle injury in October,” Jedlinski said. “Since the injury, I have been off the court ‘till the end of January, and for a tennis player, that’s a very long time.”

The women’s team, meanwhile, does not lack experience. Three of the players on the roster are seniors. And the spring season looked promising when the team acquired its sixth player, sophomore Danielle Cheung, consequently sidestepping last semester’s dilemma of forfeiting its singles or doubles in upcoming matches.

But a hard-hitting schedule beleaguered the team from the get-go, a stretch in which they played two of the top three teams in MAAC – Marist and Niagara – on back-to-back occasions.

According to Jedlinski, the tough scheduling dilemma has also played a large factor in the men’s struggles.

“The team lacks real match play experience,” he said. “When you play experienced teams like Marist and Niagara, it becomes very hard to compete at that level.”

Both teams have had two matches canceled because of inclement weather, including Wednesday’s match against Drexel. Both teams look to improve their standing in the conference on Monday at rival Loyola.