Posted: Aug 10, 2000
Tiger Men's Tennis has depth and talent for
strong run in 2001
The Wittenberg University men¹s tennis team appears to be one on the rise as Head Coach Dave Engle heads into his fourth season at the helm. The Tigers have their deepest team in years, much of which is comprised of underclassmen.
"We hope to do as well or better than we did in the North Coast Athletic Conference last year," Engle said. "We're very optimistic about the program."
Leading the way in 2001 is one of the finest players in Wittenberg history, seniorBryan Heft (Gahanna, Ohio/Lincoln). In his fourth year as the team¹s No. 1 singles and doubles player, Heft figures to be among the best players in the NCAC again this spring. He has been selected All-NCAC each of the last three years, including a pair of first-team honors.
Heft leads a team that finished 17-7 a year ago and mixes plenty of talent and experience in 2000-01. That mix that should prove helpful during the season, especially in the always tough North Coast Athletic Conference. In particular, the Tigers boast a deep sophomore class, led by Casey Claggett (Steamboat Springs, Colo./Steamboat Springs), the team¹s No. 2 singles player who works well with Heft at the top doubles spot.
Rounding out the sophomore class are Josh Conley (Springfield, Ohio/Northwestern), Eric Cusick (Lima, Ohio/Senior), Mike Herzog (Springfield, Ohio/Northwestern), Ben Hodgkiss-Lilly (Cleveland Heights, Ohio/Cleveland Heights) and Justin Schneck (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Kenston), all of whom are contributing. In addition, seniors Mark Swart (Holland, Mich./Holland), Spencer Sakai (Cincinnati, Ohio/Withrow) and Colin Beach (Dayton, Ohio/Vandalia-Butler)offers experience and freshman Duby Lakos (Lynchburg, Va./Heritage) adds potential to the lineup.