2006-07 Men's Tennis Outlook
Guilford's men's tennis team has a new look as first-year head coach Bert Poole brings an optimistic outlook and over 20 years of coaching experience to this year’s squad. "I believe this is a very solid team from top to bottom, and I have a lot of confidence in this group," Poole said. The addition of three new players, all of whom will get significant playing time, should make the winless 2005-06 campaign (0-11) a distant memory.
The Quakers welcome back two top students from 2004-05, juniors Jose Ortiz and Caleb Kimbrough, after a one year hiatus. Ortiz and Kimbrough, high school teammates at Chapel Hill High School, are joined by returning juniors Mike Muir, Ryo Kawai and Kellen Schollaert. Freshmen Will Mason-Deese, Alec Chase and Patrick Childs add talent and depth to what should be a competitive team.
The Quakers competed in the ITA Atlantic South Regionals in Salisbury, Md. during their fall season and won eight matches against some strong competition. Ortiz, Kawai and Muir won singles and doubles matches. Mason-Deese and Childs teamed up for a doubles victory while Chase won matches in the singles and doubles draws (w/Muir). The team’s solid showing at the ITA is a good indicator that it should be competitive in 2007 within the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC).
The Quakers open the spring season with four straight home matches beginning with non-conference contests with Division-II Pfeiffer and Greensboro. Guilford opens its ODAC schedule at home against conference favorite Washington & Lee and Bridgewater. The season concludes with the ODAC Tournament on April 14-15, which features a new team format. Instead of indivdual flights, the tournament will consist of a single team bracket with seeds based on the regular season conference record. The ODAC will sponsor a tournament in tennis' fall season to recognize indivdual superlatives and flight champions.