BEREA, OHIO -- The 2013-2014 Baldwin Wallace University men's tennis team and veteran Head Coach Brian Rector will seek to continue the program's success, regain the Ohio Athletic Conference title and return to the NCAA Division III National Tournament.
"We are looking forward to the upcoming season with great anticipation," said Rector, a 1989 graduate of the University and the winningest men's tennis coach at BW, in the OAC and in Ohio collegiate tennis history with a 437-85 career record in 24 seasons.
"We return a strong group of veterans" continued Rector. "In addition, we are bringing in a talented group of newcomers who can challenge our veterans for court time. We feel pretty positive heading into the fall portion of our schedule."
Over the past two season, BW has compiled a 52-2 overall record. During that stretch, BW had a school-record 29 wins and a 29 match winning-streak during the 2011-12 season. Last season, the Yellow Jackets added a 20 match winning-streak.
"Our program has a long history of success," said Rector. "Each year, our goals are to compete in the classroom and on the court, win the prestigious OAC title and advance to the NCAA Division III National Tournament."
This season, Rector returns six lettermen on his 16-player roster, including a pair of All-OAC standouts. The key will be replacing two outstanding seniors who graduated in No.1 player Joe Horvath '13 and No.4 player Alex Kearney '13.
"We graduated two outstanding student-athletes," said Rector. "Joe ended his career No.2 on our all-time wins list. Alex transferred to BW from Mount Union so he could play on an OAC Championship and NCAA qualifying team and he got that opportunity as a junior. We will definitely miss both as excellent leaders and players, but the cupboard definitely isn't bare."
The Yellow Jackets will be led by junior two-time All-OAC and Academic All OAC selection Kyle Patterson (Wooster/ Triway), who earned his second straight second-team All-OAC nod last season as he competed at number two singles. He posted a 24-5 overall record, including a 17-2 mark at the No. 2 position. He was also a member of the No. 2 doubles team with senior Academic All-OAC Brad Minrovic (Akron/ Ellet) and the duo compiled a 19-5 slate. In two seasons, Patterson has posted a 51-8 singles record. He has also posted a 40-14 doubles mark during that time.
In addition to being the leader on the court, Patterson is a leader in the classroom with a nearly 4.0 grade point average. He, Minrovic, senior Zach Elbin (Findlay/ Senior) and sophomore Doug Ganim (Olentangy/ Orange) were named as ITA (Intercollegiate Tennis Association) Scholar-Athletes earlier this summer -- see the story at http://www.bwyellowjackets.com/sports/mten/2012-13/releases/20130809y2yk1r. This year, Patterson again will be a CAPITAL ONE Academic All-America candidate. He and Minrovic were named to the CAPITAL ONE Academic All-District 7 team last spring.
All-OAC sophomore Peter Harris (Akron/ Richfield Revere) will move up to challenge for the second singles spot this season. Harris finished last season with a 26-3 overall record, including a perfect 9-0 slate in OAC matches, and competed mostly at No. 3 singles. He and Ganim posted a 21-9 doubles mark competing in the No. 1 doubles spot.
Ganim posted a 22-6 overall record at the No. 5 singles spot a season ago. Look for him to compete for the No.3 singles spot this season and continue playing on the No. 1 doubles team with Harris.
Minrovic returns for his senior year after posting a 20-6 singles record last season, mostly at the No. 6 position. Minrovic was also part of a No. 2 doubles tandem that compiled a 19-5 record in 2012-13. For his career, Minrovic enters his senior season with a 50-18 mark in singles and a 54-16 slate in doubles.
Zach Elbin (Findlay/ Senior) and Dan Rowsey (Ashland/ Senior) also return for their senior years. As a junior, Elbin earned his first varsity letter. He had a record of 5-2 in singles play. Elbin teamed up with Rowsey in doubles and went 3-4 overall. Rowsey also had a 9-5 overall record, including an 8-1 record at the No.6 singles position.
"We feel that every returning player who is back has the talent and ability to play well at the NCAA Division III level and represent the University well," said Rector.
"I also have seen seven of our 10 newcomers play and I am excited at the talent level and depth and competition that they will create," said Rector. "Competition is healthy. All seven could see starting time if they make the successful transition to college tennis."
The Yellow Jackets open the 2013 fall schedule when they play both Penn State Behrend in Erie, Pennsylvania on the morning of Saturday, September 14 and then travel to Steubenville, Ohio to play Fransiscan University later that day. BW also will play at the Oberlin College and ITA Central Region tournaments in the fall. The winter/ spring schedule begins in February with the annual Spring Break Trip taking place in Hilton Head, South Carolina in early March.
FOR MORE BW SPORTS INFORMATION, please contact Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327 and e-mail at kruple@bw.edu and/or Assistant SID Jeff Miller by phone at 440-826-2780 and e-mail at jefmille@bw.edu. Fans can access the latest BW athletics information at www.BWyellowjackets.com and we invite you to join us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/bwathletics.
