2008 Men's Tennis Season Outlook

Wooster Aiming to Get Back Into Top-Three of NCAC

Grant D'Augustine has won 25 career singles matches entering his senior season.

The College of Wooster men’s tennis team had a run of three consecutive top-three finishes in the North Coast Athletic Conference come to an end last spring when the Fighting Scots were upset by Allegheny College in the third-place match at the conference tourney. In 2008, Wooster hopes to move back up into the top-three, but it will have to do so without two all-NCAC players who graduated.

The Scots lost their No. 1 player, Will Morrison, who won over 40 career singles matches (41-34), including 24 at the top of the lineup (24-21), and Brian Ebbitts, who registered a 48-29 singles record while playing in the middle of the order and a 44-28 doubles record.

That will put seniors Dave Albrechta and Grant D’Augustine into prominent leadership roles. Albrechta is expected to man No. 1 singles, as 27 of his 42 career starts (18-24) have come in the top half of the lineup, highlighted by going 7-4 at No. 2 as a sophomore. D’Augustine, a lefty who has steadily improved his game while at Wooster, enters his final campaign with 25 singles wins already to his credit (25-29).

Pat Grab and Jeremy Dominik, both of the junior class, start the year penciled in at third and fourth singles. Grab posted the second-most victories on the team last season, going 12-7 overall, with most of those coming at No. 4 and No. 5. Dominik also was a regular in the starting lineup last spring, primarily at No. 6 (5-3), and possesses 13 career wins (13-9).

The bottom-third of the singles order could fluctuate. Those vying for time are senior Andrew Garnett, juniors Rob Ashmead and Chris Collen, sophomore Ben Edwards, and a five-member freshman class – Ethan Arenstein, Ben Gartin, Brad Palanski, Andrew Retzler, and David Small. Collen is the lone returning letterwinner of the group, despite missing significant time due to injuries. Garnett, Ashmead, and Edwards have gained most of their experience in doubles, while Arenstein leads the first-years.

Traditionally, doubles has been an emphasis for Scot teams, and they’ll look to take advantage of the relatively new nine-point scoring system in NCAA Div. III men’s tennis (adopted in 2007 to make each doubles match count one point apiece). D’Augustine and Grab have been paired together much of the last two seasons, combining for a 24-12 record (12-5 at No. 2), and they’ll likely be atop Wooster’s lineup now. Albrechta and Arenstein will begin the spring at No. 2, while the third team is yet to be determined.

The Scots’ inexperienced squad will be challenged by its schedule. They are slated to face five teams currently ranked in their respective Div. III regions by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association – NCAC foes Denison University and Kenyon College as well as Dickinson College, Ohio Northern University, and Wheaton (Ill.) College.