2012 Mocs tennis

outlook

season outlook overview of the mocs in 2012

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s and women’s tennis teams are geared up for an exciting season of collegiate tennis. The Mocs and Lady Mocs are looking to continue the momentum of big improvements on the court from the 2011 campaign. Both squads return the core of their lineups and both has talented experience to lead their teams in 2012. The Mocs are trying to increase their win total for the third year in a row. Coming off an 8-16 season, Chattanooga posted its most wins since the 2008 season. UTC returns five starters while adding three newcomers. Chattanooga has no seniors on the roster, but eight juniors, two sophomores and a freshman. Leading the men is two-time All-Southern Conference performer Roberto Vieira (Bedfordview, South Africa). He went 12-12 at No. 1 last season, earning a spot on the league’s first team. Fellow junior Chris Smith (Johnson City, Tenn.) is set to return at No. 2 while classmates Stephen Crofford (Franklin, Tenn.), William Disterdick (Hixson, Tenn.) and Sam Parfitt (Norwich, England) will all battle for spots in the lineup. Sophomores Orlando Lourenco (Hixson, Tenn.) and Jordan Faith (Denver, Colo.) will also be in the mix for time on the court. Newcomers include a pair of junior transfers in Manuel Barroetavena

(Buenos Aires, Argentina) and Ankit Chopra (Chandigrah, India). Barroetavena joins the Mocs from Cameron University on Oklahoma while Chopra transfers from Chicago State. Freshman Pavels Grigorjevs (Riga, Latvia) is the other newcomer. All three are expected to work their way into the lineup. The Lady Mocs went 11-11 last season, their best record since 2006. UTC also was 6-5 in SoCon action, moving up to fifth in the league. After going 3-7 in SoCon play in 2010, the Lady Mocs improved a full three games in league matches last season. That is the biggest jump for the program since posting a 2-5 mark in 1993 and following that with a 7-2 SoCon record in 1994.

cord, and a 22-9 doubles mark. She was 12-9 at No. 4. Hangstefer played most of the season at No. 3 where she was 6-10. Bossy was 8-8 at No. 5 while Wishing was 1-0 in her only appearance in a dual match. Sophomore Alexa Flynn (Memphis, Tenn.) had a strong first year, earning a spot on the SoCon All-Freshman team. She was 11-11 in dual matches and 1812 overall.

UTC returns two-time All-SoCon performer Jenna Nurik. A junior from Roswell, Ga., Nurik was 18-14 overall and 13-9 at No. 1 last season. She earned the SoCon Sportsmanship Award and was on the league’s second team. She also had a 20-9 mark in doubles play.

Freshman Kaylene Chadwell (Franklin, Tenn.) will push for a spot in the top of the lineup after a solid fall season. Fellow newcomer Claire Mulyadi (Semarang, Indonesia) joined the team at the semester break and will add depth to the roster.

Four seniors will also lead the team, including Charlotte Bossy (Koekelare, Belgium), Emily Hangstefer (Signal Mountain, Tenn.), Shaina Singh (Vancouver, B.C.) and Brianna Wishing (Murfreesboro, Tenn.). Singh led this group with a 17-14 singles re-

Expectations continue to grow for both the Mocs and Lady Mocs as the programs move forward. Together they have 18 SoCon championships, but are working for the first one since the 2000 season. As the talent on the court improves, both programs are trying to work their way back to that championship tradition.

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