Armed with a pair of new players, the Hillsdale men’s tennis team is preparing for a fresh season.
The eight-man team will play 19 matches and three multi-day invitationals. After finishing the previous season 9-10, the team hopes to put on a strong performance this year.
Head coach Keith Turner anticipates a bounceback season after finishing last season with a losing record.
“Our spring schedule is tough as usual,” Turner said. “I added two strong Freshman to the roster this year, Zeteny Paragi and Jack Ford. Our team goals are to make the NCAA Tournament, win the conference sportsmanship award, again, and have a 3.4 team GPA.”
Senior Ellis Klanduch lamented the loss of two players from last year’s team.
“It was a disappointment to lose Jackson [Clements] and Sam Plys over the summer,” Klanduch said. “Jackson transferred to Ohio State and Sam went to work back home. Sam was starting in the middle of the lineup and he was always a solid, dependable doubles player. Jackson usually started in doubles and would have appearances at six.”
Junior Ryan Papazov encouraged students to attend matches, especially at home.
“We’re loud. We’re fun. We’re obnoxious. It’s always good to watch us,” Papazov said. “It’s always fun to see a sport that maybe you’ve never had much interest in, and just being able to better learn and understand it, especially if you’re going into big corporate roles where, more often than not, it’s golf and tennis that people play. You may as well develop your knowledge now.”
Underclassmen will provide critical depth for the team, Papazov said. Klanduch agreed, and said the freshmen – Ford and Paragi – are strong additions. He hopes to see them contribute in doubles matches frequently.
“I’m looking forward to growing the team dynamics,” Papazov said. “I think we’ve got two new freshmen that are very good. They’re solid players. They’re going to really help us build some depth into our team and into our game.”
According to Turner, the seniors will lead the rebound.
“My seniors and captains are Ellis Klanduch and Henry Hammond,” he said. “They’ve been with me long enough to know what I expect out of the team on and off the court. They do a great job of handling any distractions during a long season.”
Klanduch’s leadership style had to develop quickly last season, he said. Stepping into the captain role presents new opportunities.
“I’m excited about being captain and more of a leader this year,” Klanduch said. “I had to step in a little bit, not awkwardly, but unexpectedly, sophomore year, because Henry and I were the oldest two people on the team.The only guy we had who was superior to us transferred to Boston College, so I had to step in there early. I’m excited to finally have a pattern.”
Papazov said the upperclassmen have kept the team steady and navigated conflicts. Their leadership will determine the direction of the team once the fall semester concludes
“I think this semester will be very formative of our positions and our roles, especially now that we finally have some upperclassmen on the team and we’ve got a lot more experience under our belts compared to previous years,” Papazov said. “But honestly, I’m very excited to see that happen, and then for the spring, we’ll see where that takes us. First, we need to get through the fall.”
The Chargers will host the Chargers Summer Invitational at the Mary Jane Delp Tennis Courts, beginning Sept. 12.
