Men's Tennis

2007-2008 SEASON OUTLOOK

University of St. Francis men’s tennis coach Jim Trudeau thinks that his program is on the verge of turning the corner. After two seasons of hovering right around the .500 mark (12-11 in 2006 and 9-9 last year), Trudeau expects his team to break through this year and put the USF program on the NAIA regional and national map.

“Olivet Nazarene has been the power in men’s tennis in our area and our goal is to elevate our program to the point where we can not only be competitive with them but also be able to defeat them,” says the fifth-year USF head coach.

One of the positive steps for not only the USF program but also for the NAIA Midwest schools is the formation of a tennis conference for the 2007-08 season. The Mid-States Tennis Conference includes schools from Indiana (Calumet), Iowa (Clarke, St. Ambrose) and Illinois (Olivet Nazarene and USF).

“I really am happy with the formation of the conference,” says Trudeau. “The pursuit of a conference championship gives our team another goal to shoot for and assures us of more quality competition. The conference tournament at the end of the spring season will give us that challenge at the end of the season. Our program is still below the level of a national program so the conference title is a very reasonable and attainable goal for us to set for ourselves. The league is in its infancy but it is clearly going to help not only St. Francis but all the schools get better and gain more regional and national recognition.”

Trudeau likes the makeup of his 2007-08 squad and is particularly pleased to welcome back several veterans.  Three seniors and four juniors – all with significant collegiate experience – give the fifth-year coach a team that is not only talented but also seasoned.

Pat Haaker, Aaron Tarlini and Troy Talkington are the three seniors, with Haaker and Tarlini vying for playing time at the top singles spots.           

Haaker was 6-7 in singles as a junior last season and went 5-5 this fall. He spent most of last season at No. 5 singles and played at No. 2 this fall. Tarlini finished third on the team a year ago in singles victories with 11 (11-13) and teamed with Cole Twitchell to lead the club in doubles wins at 15 (15-11). He played primarily at No. 4 singles as a junior and was in that slot again this past fall. Talkington played in just one doubles match last year and also fought a nagging foot injury.

Twitchell, Jason Blauw, Justin Jelinski and Jeremy Unger are the four juniors and all represent key factors to the Saints’ success this spring.

Twitchell played at No. 1 singles last season and posted a 10-14 record. He and Tarlini enjoyed most of their doubles success in the No. 2 slot. Injuries limited Blauw’s play in 2006-07 and he will not be fully recovered from his knee surgery until sometime in April this spring. Jelinski posted a 7-3 mark at No. 6 singles as a sophomore, the best winning percentage (.700) of any Saint for the season. He also teamed with Unger to fashion a 9-6 record at No. 3 singles. He registered a 3-3 mark in singles during the fall portion of this year’s schedule. Unger finished 16-7 overall in singles play last season but was a near-perfect 9-1 at the No. 5 spot. He was 13-6 with three different partners at No. 3 doubles.

Scott Surges is the lone sophomore on the Saints’ roster. He was impressive as a freshman, posting a 9-10 mark at No. 2 singles and an 11-13 record in doubles with a trio of partners. He spent most of his doubles time teamed with then-senior Wes Streitz at No. 1 and the twosome logged a 9-12 record.

Three freshmen round out the Saints’ roster for this spring. A pair of Joliet Catholic products – Jake Quigley and James Tomasino – is expected to make immediate contributions to the team this spring. Both transferred to USF this January and each of them made impressive debuts in an early-season match with Illinois Springfield in February. Both Quigley and Tomasino are second-generation USF tennis products. Jake’s father – the late Pat Quigley – lettered in both tennis and basketball at USF and the court at the USF Recreation Center was dedicated in his memory following his death from cancer. Tomasino’s father Bob played at USF from 1977-80 with Pat Quigley. Walk-on Serod Abdennabi is the other freshman on the squad.

“Experience is a great thing to have on your side,” says Trudeau. “I think that with this experience and with the new talent that we have added that we should be a pretty formidable team this spring. Of course, we have to stay healthy. It’s really critical that Jason (Blauw) gets back and is fully recovered. We need him in our lineup.”