2014 SPRING PREVIEW The Coast Guard men’s tennis team will kick off the 2013/14 season on Saturday, March 22nd when they host Branceis at 1:00 pm. Jim Hazlin will be charged with leading the Bears again this season, his eighth season at the helm. He will be assisted by former cadet-athlete Mike Turdo. The Bears will be looking to bounce back from a tough 2012/13 season that saw them finish up with a 4-12 record (1-4 NEWMAC). The team is very young this season and will be led by a trio of sophomores. Mark Guentert and Weston Fortna who spent the duration of last season as number one doubles partners. Guentert also plays number one singles while Fortna is the Bears number three singles player. Robert Renfrow rounds out the top three and has spent the fall and winter seasons playing number two singles and doubles for the Bears.
In their fall season, Coast Guard fell to Holy Cross and Trinity in dual matches. When the winter season came around the Bears opened by losing to Mid-Atlantic powerhouse Vassar before rebounding to beat Holy Cross two weeks later. The Bears have improved throughout the season and, more importantly, have picked up significant experience for their young group. Coast Guard has just two seniors and two juniors on the roster, just one of whom - Lightner - plays in the top five on the singles side. Coast Guard will once again play one of the most challenging schedules in the region which should prepare them for the rigors of the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference. Within the conference, Coast Guard will take on national power MIT along with Wheaton, Springfield, Babson, and Clark as well as NEWMAC-newcomer Emerson.
SEASON PREVIEW
Junior Jon Lightner and freshman Bruce Kim have split time between number four and number five singles for the Bears this season with each seeing time paired with Renfrow at number two doubles. Coast Guard has gained a lot of experience for their younger group of players in the non-traditional season highlighted by a pair of tournaments cohosted with Connecticut College.
MEN’S TENNIS
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