Freshman-filled tennis teams begin spring season

The University of Richmond's men and women's tennis teams anticipate successful spring seasons, with the men's team hoping to learn and improve from its tough schedule and the women's team attempting to repeat its Atlantic 10 championship.

Both Billy Boykin, the men's coach, and Mark Wesselink, the women's coach, said their teams' success would be hard to predict because both teams were young. The women's team has four freshmen and the men's team has three.

"We had three seniors graduate this past year," Wesselink said. "We lost our No. 1, who was player of the year in the conference last year, but we're confident in senior Erin Clark. ... She has a lot of experience."

Wesselink said the four freshmen - Alexandra Smyth, Sydney Grant, Mariana Arana and Ripley Hartmeyer - would be strong competitors this season.

"Alex is a very aggressive player and I think her game will be very strong at the beginning of the season when we play indoors," Wesselink said.

Arana joined her brother, Rafael Arana, a junior on the men's team from Mexico City. She played well during the fall and Wesselink said he expected her to do the same during the spring.

The women's team starts out with two difficult competitors from the Atlantic Coast Conference: the University of Virginia on Jan. 24 and the University of Maryland on Jan. 29.

"We're very excited," Wesselink said. "This team has tremendous potential to be the team to beat in the A-10."

The women's team will be working to win the doubles matches, which will be important if it wants to beat some of its toughest competitors.

"Our biggest team challenge will be winning the doubles point," junior Kelly Tidwell said. "Though it only counts for one out of the seven points, it has often been a deal-breaker for us in previous seasons, and it definitely sets the tone for the singles competition."

In his second year as the men's coach, Boykin said his goal was to solidify the progress he had made last year.

"It's a good team of guys who work hard for one another and are all team-oriented," he said. "The most important thing is to keep developing, to compete hard and to keep practicing intensely every day."

The men face a tough schedule this season, which includes nationally ranked teams such as U.Va. and the University of North Carolina.

Boykin said he saw these competitions as learning experiences for the team.

"Those matches are fun to play because there's no pressure," he said. "They can play with nothing to lose."

Freshmen Jesse Feder and Sebastien Fauchet are two players to look out for this season, Boykin said.

"Our two top freshmen, Jesse Feder and Sebastien Fauchet, are the two main guys in my mind that are going to make a huge impact on our team," sophomore Dylan Schrode said. "Jesse is a fierce competitor who never backs down from a challenge, while Sebastien is a tactical player who uses a perfect combination of power and finesse."

The men's team will play its first home match on March 2 against East Carolina University, and the women's first home match will be against Maryland on Jan. 29.

Contact reporter Elise Reinemann at elise.reinemann@richmond.edu