Feb. 18, 2005

The Patriots men's tennis team begins their 15-game spring schedule at the U.S. Naval Academy on Saturday at 5 p.m. The first home match is against Loyola College on Sunday, February 27 at 1 p.m. The success of the season will depend upon experience of the six returning players and staying healthy.

Mason's men's tennis team's roster lacked experience and depth last season having only one senior, Tito Ballester, who was their top singles and doubles player, and it showed as the team could muster only two victories. This year the team has the experience with six players returning to action, but lacks the depth with only those six players on the roster. An injury can cost them, having to default on matches.

"Everyone moves up a spot and this will be the challenge for everyone," said Coach Gary Quam. "But everyone also has more experience and we should see bigger and better games from them. Smaller teams do have their advantages, everyone gets to play, we should have better practices and small teams tend to be a tighter group."

The team's lone senior returning is Tim Bainton, who played at the No. 2 singles position for the past two seasons after seeing action at the No. 3 slot as a freshman. He concluded the year with an 8-19 mark and also finished 2-4 in league play. He was the only other upperclassman on the squad and played doubles with senior Tito Ballester at the No. 1 doubles position. The team of Ballester and Bainton had the only winning doubles record for the Patriots at 10-7.

"Tim has a lot of experience against the top players having played at No. 3 single or better his previous three seasons," said Coach Quam. "I'm counting on him to set the competitive standard for the team. He's a tough opponent because he mixes it up well from the baseline and really effective when he forces the action at the net."

Junior Stephan Dufils returned to the line-up this year after missing the previous spring season with an injury. He is fully recovered now and is hungry to play and do well. He placed third in Flight 1 singles at the Washington and Lee Invitational this past fall. He's had enough experience to play the No. 2 singles and with a combination of consistency and placement coach expects him to have success. Dufils was positioned at No. 3 as a freshman and he went 11-10. "He was very motivated in the fall," said Quam. "He is an aggressive baseliner who tries to outlast his opponents. He has consistency moving the ball around from the baseline position and can also put the short balls away."

One of coaches more promising young players is sophomore Farshad Garakani, who can fill the mix between No. 2 and 3 singles spots. Last season because of the injury to Dufils, he was forced into playing the No. 3 singles against competition with collegiate experience, and finished with a 3-11 spring record. With a year of experience under his belt, he is expected to fare better from that slot.

Garakani has all-around good skills including a nice forehand, a steady backhand and a good serve. "He is a very athletic player, quick and agile," said Quam. "He is very passionate about the game and played in a lot of off-season tennis to prepare for the season. The key to his success is to focus on winning as opposed to trying to hit the perfect, pretty shot."

The Bottom half of line-up is stronger than last year because of experience and players working hard on their game during the off-season. They will bank on it to help Mason win more matches with junior Miles Hughes, and sophomores Eric Vogel and Rob Santos. Quam feels all three players made strides in the off-season.

"Miles is a made player, he has a good first serve, good pace on his shots, and makes fewer errors than I've seen in the past," said coach. "He is more resilient, able to take tough plays and bounce back."

Eric Vogel looks to improve upon a 2-19 singles record from last season, playing No. 4-6 singles. "I feel Eric may be the most improved on the team," stated Quam. "He has the best `kick' serve on the team and is putting more pace into his forehand which will create more opportunities for him to score some points.

Rob Santos played in only six matches last season, winning one in tournament action and one at the No. 6 position. "He is a physically strong guy who is learning how to harness it to his advantage," said coach. "Rob showed improvement on his groundstrokes last fall, adding both pace and consistency. I expect with experience, he should improve more, and be a factor."

The team will play fewer matches then they did last season, with 14 games on the slate. Action begins at the U.S. Naval Academy on February 19. The CAA docket begins with a match-up at William & Mary on February 26, with the heart of the conference play in late March and early April. The CAA tournament begins on April 21 in Richmond, Va.

The Patriots ended the season in ninth place in the CAA. "I believe we can improve on last year's record and move up in the conference," stated Quam.