Men’s ten­nis team looks to vet­er­ans to lead team

Torch File PhotoThe men’s ten­nis team is head­ing into a new sea­son, prepar­ing for some com­pe­ti­tion and look­ing to break back into a top 40 national ranking.

The men’s ten­nis team will rely on their vet­er­ans to set the tone for the 2009–2010 season.

The team will look to build off a 14–8 over­all record from last sea­son and an unex­pected run in the NCAA Division II Tournament, where the team upset rival Grand Valley State in the first round. The Bulldogs lost to nation­ally ranked Northwood in the Midwest Regional Final.

This sea­son, the team will look to a mix of vet­er­ans and younger play­ers to help carry the momen­tum from last season’s tour­na­ment run.

“We’re really close to break­ing back into the top 40 national rank­ing and the top 32 fin­ish last spring should strengthen our case,” said Alex Palladino, head coach of the men’s and women’s teams.

“We rec­og­nize the high level of com­pe­ti­tion in our con­fer­ence, how­ever, and really need to pre­pare for some tough chal­lenges from our con­fer­ence foes,” said Palladino.

Palladino will look to his expe­ri­enced play­ers to lead the team this season.

“We have a nice mix of ages on this year’s team, and we have sev­eral vet­er­ans we will rely on to set the tone,” said Palladino, “I think seniors Ahmet Demir and Kyle Revall will use their expe­ri­ence to anchor our team.”

Among the younger play­ers, return­ing sopho­more Jack Swan, who was last year’s team MVP and was an All-GLIAC sec­ond team selec­tion, will be some­one the team will rely on to build off last season.

“Jack Swan had an out­stand­ing sea­son for us in the third sin­gles posi­tion last sea­son. With a year of col­lege com­pe­ti­tion under his belt, he could really make a move for us this sea­son,” said Palladino.

Another player Palladino will be look­ing to pro­duce will be sopho­more Justin Hermes, who was named Most Improved Player last sea­son and was an All-GLIAC hon­or­able mention.

“Justin Hermes had some out­stand­ing per­for­mances for us last year, includ­ing the clinch­ing vic­tory in the first round of the tour­na­ment,” said Palladino.

Palladino said he is also excited about the devel­op­ment of fresh­man Arin Enge and junior trans­fer Steven Roberts.

The team will begin the 2009–2010 sea­son at the ITA Midwest Regional Championships Sept. 25–27 in Midland, Mich. It is the only com­pe­ti­tion the team will take part in until Feb. 25. With such a gap in matches, Palladino is look­ing for a way to keep his play­ers work­ing towards improvement.

“It is chal­leng­ing for the play­ers to main­tain the patience nec­es­sary to per­form well when we pick back up in the spring,” said Palladino. “It gives us time, how­ever, to work on our skills and develop dou­bles pairings.”

Palladino said the lim­ited fall sched­ule allows him to focus on the women’s team and gives him time to man­age the devel­op­ment of the men’s team.