Men's Tennis 2016 Fall Preview
9/15/2016 12:24:00 PM | Men's Tennis
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh men's tennis team will open the fall portion of the 2016-17 season this weekend with a trip to Saint Joseph's University.
Lehigh will compete at five separate events this fall, beginning with the Saint Joseph's University Men's Tennis Invitational on Sept. 16-18. The event will be held at the SJU Tennis Complex. Use this link to visit the tournament homepage: http://www.sjuhawks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=31200&ATCLID=211166424
The Mountain Hawks will not return to action again until the month of October when they have competitions scheduled for four-consecutive weekends, beginning with the Lehigh Invitational on Oct. 1-2. Lehigh will then travel to Princeton on Oct. 7-9 before returning home for the Patriot League Kickoff on Oct. 15-16. The Mountain Hawks will wrap up the fall slate with a trip to the ITA Regional Championship hosted by Penn on Oct. 20-25.
"Our priority is to keep improving our team culture after a solid season last year and take our level of play to the next level," said head coach Wouter Hendrix. "This team still has much room for improvement and our student-athletes are hungry to accept the challenge. We look forward to giving it our all and earning some nice wins in preparation of our main season."
Lehigh returns 10 players to the 2016-17 roster, including five regular starters from last season, and welcome in one freshman, Jack Martin-Dyer. Jack Petersen is back for his junior season as the team's top-returner as he earned All-Patriot League honors and led the team with 17 singles wins a season ago. Senior Ethan Bogard and Sophomore George Cooper will look to build off of a successful campaigns from last season as they both posted 13 wins in singles play. Colin Nardella is back for his final season with the Brown and White as he posted an 11-3 record singles record with a 6-1 record in league play last season.
Coach Hendrix is also pleased to welcome in new faces to the coaching staff for 2016-17. Sarah Short enters her first season as the full time assistant coach for both the men's and women's programs, while Sam O'Neil was named the program's second graduate assistant coach.
"We are now blessed to have the largest coaching staff in the history of our program," said Hendrix. "After conducting a national search, we were fortunate to bring Sarah Short on board who was voted the Assistant Coach of the Year by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association during her time at Carnegie Mellon, an institution with a similar academic profile to Lehigh. Coach Short brings a wealth of knowledge about the game and about leadership strategies. She is a true educator and has already proven to be a compelling leader for our tennis programs."
"Our athletic department also committed resources to opening up an additional graduate assistant coaching position for both teams and this position was filled by Sam O'Neill," stated Hendrix. "The New Zealand native was a standout player for Butler University, which is a highly competitive Division I program. Coach O'Neill's experience and playing background is going to lift our teams' performance to new heights."
In addition to the new additions to his coaching staff, Coach Hendrix also recognizes the returning members of his staff in graduate assistant Megan FitzMaurice and volunteer assistant Charles Lavin.
"We are fortunate to have the commitment and dedication of returning graduate assistant coach Megan FitzMaurice and volunteer assistant coach Charles Lavin," said Hendrix. "Coach FitzMaurice has invested countless hours and resources into the reorganization of our players' lobby and other areas of the facility while also serving as team manager/director of operations, in addition to her coaching duties. Coach Lavin, who also has a ton of experience as a player and mentor, volunteers hours out of his busy work week to spend time with our student-athletes and develop them."
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Lehigh will compete at five separate events this fall, beginning with the Saint Joseph's University Men's Tennis Invitational on Sept. 16-18. The event will be held at the SJU Tennis Complex. Use this link to visit the tournament homepage: http://www.sjuhawks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=31200&ATCLID=211166424
The Mountain Hawks will not return to action again until the month of October when they have competitions scheduled for four-consecutive weekends, beginning with the Lehigh Invitational on Oct. 1-2. Lehigh will then travel to Princeton on Oct. 7-9 before returning home for the Patriot League Kickoff on Oct. 15-16. The Mountain Hawks will wrap up the fall slate with a trip to the ITA Regional Championship hosted by Penn on Oct. 20-25.
"Our priority is to keep improving our team culture after a solid season last year and take our level of play to the next level," said head coach Wouter Hendrix. "This team still has much room for improvement and our student-athletes are hungry to accept the challenge. We look forward to giving it our all and earning some nice wins in preparation of our main season."
Lehigh returns 10 players to the 2016-17 roster, including five regular starters from last season, and welcome in one freshman, Jack Martin-Dyer. Jack Petersen is back for his junior season as the team's top-returner as he earned All-Patriot League honors and led the team with 17 singles wins a season ago. Senior Ethan Bogard and Sophomore George Cooper will look to build off of a successful campaigns from last season as they both posted 13 wins in singles play. Colin Nardella is back for his final season with the Brown and White as he posted an 11-3 record singles record with a 6-1 record in league play last season.
Coach Hendrix is also pleased to welcome in new faces to the coaching staff for 2016-17. Sarah Short enters her first season as the full time assistant coach for both the men's and women's programs, while Sam O'Neil was named the program's second graduate assistant coach.
"We are now blessed to have the largest coaching staff in the history of our program," said Hendrix. "After conducting a national search, we were fortunate to bring Sarah Short on board who was voted the Assistant Coach of the Year by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association during her time at Carnegie Mellon, an institution with a similar academic profile to Lehigh. Coach Short brings a wealth of knowledge about the game and about leadership strategies. She is a true educator and has already proven to be a compelling leader for our tennis programs."
"Our athletic department also committed resources to opening up an additional graduate assistant coaching position for both teams and this position was filled by Sam O'Neill," stated Hendrix. "The New Zealand native was a standout player for Butler University, which is a highly competitive Division I program. Coach O'Neill's experience and playing background is going to lift our teams' performance to new heights."
In addition to the new additions to his coaching staff, Coach Hendrix also recognizes the returning members of his staff in graduate assistant Megan FitzMaurice and volunteer assistant Charles Lavin.
"We are fortunate to have the commitment and dedication of returning graduate assistant coach Megan FitzMaurice and volunteer assistant coach Charles Lavin," said Hendrix. "Coach FitzMaurice has invested countless hours and resources into the reorganization of our players' lobby and other areas of the facility while also serving as team manager/director of operations, in addition to her coaching duties. Coach Lavin, who also has a ton of experience as a player and mentor, volunteers hours out of his busy work week to spend time with our student-athletes and develop them."
Like Lehigh tennis on Facebook and follow on Twitter for exclusive content and team updates.
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