Season Outlook

Shane Hutton

The Wittenberg University men's and women's tennis teams are both generally young outfits expected to feature enough talent in the lineups to get back into the thick of the North Coast Athletic Conference races in 2004.

The Tiger men, which lost four starters from last year's team that ranked in the top 10 in the region and placed second in the rugged NCAC, are led by their lone senior, first singles and doubles player Duby Lakos (Lynchburg, Va./Heritage). A three-year letterwinner and two-time All-NCAC choice, Lakos takes over the top spot from All-American Casey Clagett after two years at the No. 2 singles position. The only other returning starter is sophomore Shane Hutton (Charleston, W.Va./Charleston Catholic), who played No. 6 singles and No. 3 doubles in the 2002-03 season. Hutton has moved into the No. 2 singles and No. 2 doubles positions.

Junior Ben Burkam (Delaware, Ohio/Hayes), a two-year letterwinner who has never previously cracked the starting lineup, and sophomores Matt Treblas (Aurora, Ohio/Aurora), Nick McLean (Port Clinton, Ohio/Port Clinton) and Brian Pierce (Dayton, Ohio/Oakwood) are the leading candidates for the other singles positions. Sophomore Steve Wilson (Springfield, Ohio/Shawnee) and freshmanJohn Shields (New Kensington, Pa./Valley) have worked their way into the mix for one of the doubles positions.

Sarah Fassler

On the women's side, the Tigers return five singles starters and another who started at No. 2 doubles a year ago. The headliner is junior Emily Figel (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Homestead), a two-time all-conference performer and the 2002 NCAC Newcomer of the Year. She is joined in this year's starting singles lineup by junior Sarah Fassler (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Ursula), sophomore Deana Nowakowski (Uniontown, Ohio/Lake), freshmanEmma Robinow (Yellow Springs, Ohio/Yellow Springs) and seniors Kristyn Russell (Loveland, Ohio/Mt. Notre Dame) and Megan Maher (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Kenston). Other returning letterwinners include senior Valerie Allen (Cincinnati, Ohio/Colerain), junior Ellie Hazelbaker (Cincinnati, Ohio/Roger Bacon).

In doubles, Head Coach Dave Engle is likely to experiment with a number of combinations, incorporating the listed singles, as well as sophomore Mallory Meyer (Darien, Conn./Darien).