1997 Season Preview
by Jim Mullins
Assistant Director
Sports Information
UMass Dartmouth tennis roster filled
with familiar faces for the 1997 season
With five starters returning from last year's 9-1 team that captured its first Little East Conference (LEC) championship, UMass Dartmouth tennis coach Warren Preti is already very familiar with most of his starting lineup this season. On a roster of 17 players for the 1997 season, Preti will have only four new players joining the ranks.
"This team should look familiar to last year's team," said Preti, entering his eighth season at UMass Dartmouth (54-25-1, .681 winning percentage). "We've got four players with an extensive amount of singles experience and our top doubles team is already set. Other than that, we have some strong newcomers this year who will battle with some of the other returners who will be looking to move up in the rotation."
With as much experience as UMass Dartmouth has, the Corsairs have the potential for another strong season. The two key losses that Preti must fill this season are last year's captain David Kreiss, UMass Dartmouth's #1 singles player, and part of the Corsairs' #1 doubles team and Joshua Freeman, who played #5 singles.
"Our primary goal for the season is to repeat as Little East Conference champions," said Preti. "We'll have a pretty good test very early in the season when we open with a strong Division II school, Stonehill College."
Leading the returning veterans are a pair of senior, second-year captains, Eric Coraccio (Westford, MA) and Ryan Todd (Wrentham, MA) As juniors last year, both players captured LEC championships and will be back for another season, looking for a chance to repeat. Todd (6-3 in singles) was the LEC's #3 singles champion and teamed with Coraccio to capture the #2 doubles title. Coraccio was the LECs #4 singles player and led all UMass Dartmouth singles players with a perfect 9-0 mark.
The LEC's top #2 singles player last year becomes the Corsairs' #1 player this season. Junior John Guilfoy (Mansfield, MA) (8-2 singles) captured the #2 singles title then teamed up with Kreiss to take the LEC's #1 doubles title. With Kreiss' departure, Preti will be looking for a strong doubles player to team with Guilfoy on the #2 doubles team.
At #6 singles, the Corsairs return another LEC champion in junior Mike Ring (Peabody, MA). As a sophomore last year, Ring (8-1 singles) won his second consecutive LEC singles title and will be gunning for a third consecutive conference crown this season. Senior Nate Brinker (Dudley, MA) is the other LEC champion back for another season with UMass Dartmouth. Brinker was part of the Corsairs' #3 doubles team that successfully defended its crown last season.
While some of the top singles and doubles positions have strong returners, there is plenty of competition to fill out the lower singles and doubles teams. Preti will have a deep pool of talented players competing for the remaining starting slots. Among the players who saw limited playing time last year and are looking to move up this year are junior Anthony Baldman (Dedham, MA) (3-0 in singles) and junior Alex Castner (Westford, MA). Newcomers to the program who could have an immediate impact are a pair of exchange students from Germany, Martin Hilsenbeck and Joachim Moerhke, plus first-year player Mike Gomes (New Bedford, MA).
Following the scheduled season opener with Stonehill College and another road match at UMass Boston, the Corsairs will play their home opener on April 5 against Western Connecticut State University. The Little East Conference championships are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, April 19-20 at a location yet to be determined.
With several of this season's players on the roster, the Corsairs won their first seven matches entering last season's LEC tournament. UMass Dartmouth swept all six singles and three doubles matches to clinch its first LEC Men's Tennis Championship. Come mid-April of this season, Preti is hoping many of the same players will help the Corsairs repeat history.
Pat Ricarrdi of New Bedford will serve as Preti's assistant coach for a sixth season.
Jim Mullins
Assistant Director, Sports Information and Daily News
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
285 Old Westport Road
Dartmouth,MA 02747-2300
Phone: News (508) 999-8965 Sports (508) 999-8720
Fax: (508) 999-9200
JMullins@UMassD.edu
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