After a successful season last year, the Boston University men’s tennis team is hoping to advance one step further in this year’s America East standings. Losing only one key player to graduation, the squad is ready to kick off the fall season at the Assumption College Invitational this weekend.
Senior Jason Vinoles is excited to start his last year as a Terrier.
“Everyone is pretty anxious to get the season underway,” he said. “Everyone is back from last year except for Josh Holbrook. Our core group from my freshman year is still together, and I think everyone is playing with a lot of confidence right now.”
Holbrook, a senior last year, will be missed this season, as he was counted on to win many important matches at singles and doubles. His biggest win was probably the singles match that helped the Terriers edge out Vermont in the 2002 America East Tournament.
“Josh was a great player,” current senior J.P. Debbink said. “Fortunately for the team, we didn’t lose anyone else this past year.”
The men’s team posted an 8-12 dual match record in the 2001-2002 regular season and boasted a trip to the semi-finals against the top-seeded Hartford Hawks at the 2002 America East Championships. Despite a 4-0 loss to the Hawks, Debbink said he believes the team is stronger this year and has a shot at the conference title.
“We have a great chance at Hartford this year,” he said. “They lost some great players, and we only lost one. This year I think we can realistically hope for an America East win.”
Assumption College will host the University of Vermont, the University of New Hampshire and BU for a weekend of matches. Going by last year’s results, BU should be favored going into the tournament due to only one major loss to graduation and multiple wins over Vermont and New Hampshire.
BU faced New Hampshire last fall and last spring, beating the ‘Cats 4-3 on both occasions. Strong performances in the April match came from Debbink and then-sophomore Geoffrey Wagner in singles, as well as Holbrook and current senior Noel Moossa in doubles competition.
The Terriers also battled Vermont in the spring, beating them, 5-2, during the regular season. But they also beat the Catamounts under pressure, defeating them in the quarterfinals of the America East Tournament with a 5-2 win. Moossa and current junior Adam Siegel gave solid performances winning their matches.
Vinoles said every player looked prepared for the invitational this weekend and the team’s goals are clear.
“Our entire team is focused on doing better than last year and everyone is working really hard to get to that point,” he said. “All our starting players are back, and everyone is ready to work hard this year to win the conference.”
This tournament is just a warm-up for the Terriers. They will play in the Boston College Invitational on the weekend of September 15, and will play New Hampshire in a regular season match on Sept. 18 at home.
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