Wildcats Seek Another Winning Campaign, Open 2009 Season in Boston
1/22/2009 12:52:09 PM | Men's Tennis
Gavin McFarlin - Assistant SID
Now in their third season under the direction of head coach Drew Barrett, the Wildcats will enter the 2009 campaign seeking the program's 10th SoCon Tournament title as Davidson returns a solid core of players from a season ago.
The Wildcats look to make it back-to-back seasons with a winning record for the first time since 2000 and 2001 after concluding the 2008 slate with an solid mark of 14-8 overall and 5-4 in Southern Conference play.
This year's club will feature nine letterwinners from a season ago, including three of its top singles players. Leading the way is second-team All-SoCon member senior Scott Myers, who went a perfect 6-0 at No. 5 singles. Of the nine letter winners, seven of them saw action in either singles or doubles play.
Singles
Davidson fashioned a 78-55 singles mark as a team last year, including a even 25-25 mark against SoCon opponents.
• Junior Eric Noble: Top returning singles player ... saw action at both No. 2 and 3 a year ago, going a combined 9-12 (4-5 SoCon) ... five of the wins came at the No. 3 spot ... has been a fixture in the starting lineup since freshman year.
• Sophomore Walker Lyons: Stepped in right away as freshman last year and can be expected to fill in any position from No. 3-5 ... third on the team with 12 wins in singles play ... went 9-6 at No. 3.
• Senior Scott Myers: Earned all-confernce honors as a junior after going a personal-best 18-4 at No. 4-6 ... was a perfect 9-0 in league play ... netted a combined 20 wins in singles and doubles a year ago ... had a team-best eight-match win streak during the season.
• Sophomore Arie Hefter: Earned seven starts, six of them at No. 6 as a freshman last year ... three of his five wins were vs. SoCon foes ... rattled off a winning streak of five straight after dropping his first collegiate match.
• Junior Tareq Alani: Could see action in singles after playing in his first collegiate match last year at No. 6.
• Sophomore Carter Braxton: Part of the Wildcats' Top-25 Mid-Major recruiting class last year ... will be expected to step into the starting lineup in both singles and doubles ... played in one doubles match a year ago ... participated in two Fall events ... one of three players to score two singles wins at the Davidson/Jim Causey Invitational this past Fall.
• Senior Brandon Byrd (1-0 career record) and junior David Warren: Each are expected to add depth in singles play. Byrd played in three Fall events, going 1-1 at the Davidson/Jim Causey Invitational.
Newcomer
• Freshman Calum Gee: Was the Scottish Indoor Junior National Champion during his four years and reached a ranking as high as 382nd in the ITF ... saw action in three of the five Fall events, including going 2-1 in his first collegiate event at the Southern Intercollegiate in Georgia.
Doubles
Davidson's doubles play saw the Wildcats combine to go 32-35 overall.
• No. 1 position: The Wildcats look to replace its No. 1 team after the departure of Flaviu Simihaian and Ethan Jaffee ... the duo combined to go a team-best 11-7 (3-3 SoCon) ... Davidson went 12-10 as a team at the No. 1 spot.
• No. 2 position: The Wildcats No. 2 team returns one of its two players in Noble, who could be pushed up to the No. 1 spot ... Noble earned nine doubles wins, picking up seven of them at No. 2.
• No. 3 position: Lyons returns at No. 3 after tallying an 8-8 overall mark with Sam Burns last year ... also seeing action at the position a season ago was Myers, who went 2-4, and Braxton.
Also expected to fill in at any of the three spots will be Hefter, Gee, Alani and Byrd. All four players played doubles in at least one of the Wildcats' five Fall events.
Schedule
Davidson will open its 2009 spring schedule up in the Northeast when it plays Boston University, Brown and Boston College. The Wildcats took a 6-1 decision against Brown last season.
Besides those three schools, the Wildcats' non-conference schedule will include nationally ranked Radford (69) and South Carolina (55), along with Gardner-Webb, USC Upstate, Richmond, Indiana State and University of Illinois at Chicago. The 'Cats will also battle cross-county rival Charlotte, whom they have defeated twice in the past three meetings.
The Wildcats will open SoCon play with two road matches starting on Mar. 1-2 at Samford and Chattanooga. This is Samford's first year in the SoCon after playing in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Bulldogs advanced to the NCAA Tournament last year as they finished 18-8 overall. Six of the 'Cats 10 SoCon matches this year will be on the road.
The SoCon Tournament takes place April 23-26 in Elon, N.C., as Davidson and the rest of the field will be looking to knock off Furman, who defeated Elon in the championship game a year ago. The Paladins have captured 13 titles overall. Davidson looks to rebound in the tournament after dropping its quarterfinal match against Appalachian State last year.
The Wildcats look to make it back-to-back seasons with a winning record for the first time since 2000 and 2001 after concluding the 2008 slate with an solid mark of 14-8 overall and 5-4 in Southern Conference play.
This year's club will feature nine letterwinners from a season ago, including three of its top singles players. Leading the way is second-team All-SoCon member senior Scott Myers, who went a perfect 6-0 at No. 5 singles. Of the nine letter winners, seven of them saw action in either singles or doubles play.
Singles
Davidson fashioned a 78-55 singles mark as a team last year, including a even 25-25 mark against SoCon opponents.
• Junior Eric Noble: Top returning singles player ... saw action at both No. 2 and 3 a year ago, going a combined 9-12 (4-5 SoCon) ... five of the wins came at the No. 3 spot ... has been a fixture in the starting lineup since freshman year.
• Sophomore Walker Lyons: Stepped in right away as freshman last year and can be expected to fill in any position from No. 3-5 ... third on the team with 12 wins in singles play ... went 9-6 at No. 3.
• Senior Scott Myers: Earned all-confernce honors as a junior after going a personal-best 18-4 at No. 4-6 ... was a perfect 9-0 in league play ... netted a combined 20 wins in singles and doubles a year ago ... had a team-best eight-match win streak during the season.
• Sophomore Arie Hefter: Earned seven starts, six of them at No. 6 as a freshman last year ... three of his five wins were vs. SoCon foes ... rattled off a winning streak of five straight after dropping his first collegiate match.
• Junior Tareq Alani: Could see action in singles after playing in his first collegiate match last year at No. 6.
• Sophomore Carter Braxton: Part of the Wildcats' Top-25 Mid-Major recruiting class last year ... will be expected to step into the starting lineup in both singles and doubles ... played in one doubles match a year ago ... participated in two Fall events ... one of three players to score two singles wins at the Davidson/Jim Causey Invitational this past Fall.
• Senior Brandon Byrd (1-0 career record) and junior David Warren: Each are expected to add depth in singles play. Byrd played in three Fall events, going 1-1 at the Davidson/Jim Causey Invitational.
Newcomer
• Freshman Calum Gee: Was the Scottish Indoor Junior National Champion during his four years and reached a ranking as high as 382nd in the ITF ... saw action in three of the five Fall events, including going 2-1 in his first collegiate event at the Southern Intercollegiate in Georgia.
Doubles
Davidson's doubles play saw the Wildcats combine to go 32-35 overall.
• No. 2 position: The Wildcats No. 2 team returns one of its two players in Noble, who could be pushed up to the No. 1 spot ... Noble earned nine doubles wins, picking up seven of them at No. 2.
• No. 3 position: Lyons returns at No. 3 after tallying an 8-8 overall mark with Sam Burns last year ... also seeing action at the position a season ago was Myers, who went 2-4, and Braxton.
Also expected to fill in at any of the three spots will be Hefter, Gee, Alani and Byrd. All four players played doubles in at least one of the Wildcats' five Fall events.
Schedule
Davidson will open its 2009 spring schedule up in the Northeast when it plays Boston University, Brown and Boston College. The Wildcats took a 6-1 decision against Brown last season.
Besides those three schools, the Wildcats' non-conference schedule will include nationally ranked Radford (69) and South Carolina (55), along with Gardner-Webb, USC Upstate, Richmond, Indiana State and University of Illinois at Chicago. The 'Cats will also battle cross-county rival Charlotte, whom they have defeated twice in the past three meetings.
The Wildcats will open SoCon play with two road matches starting on Mar. 1-2 at Samford and Chattanooga. This is Samford's first year in the SoCon after playing in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Bulldogs advanced to the NCAA Tournament last year as they finished 18-8 overall. Six of the 'Cats 10 SoCon matches this year will be on the road.
The SoCon Tournament takes place April 23-26 in Elon, N.C., as Davidson and the rest of the field will be looking to knock off Furman, who defeated Elon in the championship game a year ago. The Paladins have captured 13 titles overall. Davidson looks to rebound in the tournament after dropping its quarterfinal match against Appalachian State last year.
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