THE SERVE: The Daemen College men's tennis team opens the spring portion of its 2015-16 season by hosting Elmira College this weekend.

 

Saturday, February 6 (at Miller Tennis Center, Williamsville, N.Y.)

Daemen vs. Elmira, 12:30 p.m.

Miller Tennis Center Details

DAEMEN GROUND STROKES

• Daemen returns 11 players from its 2014-15 roster which achieved a record of 7-16, including a 1-5 mark in East Coast Conference play
• In addition to the returners, the Wildcats welcome four fresh faces to the mix this season
• The Wildcats were voted tied for fifth in the ECC preseason poll released in late January
• Saturday's match has Daemen taking the court for the first time since defeating Houghton 9-0 in their fall season finale on Oct. 14
• Daemen will play five of their first nine matches this spring at home before venturing on the road for eight-straight
• The Wildcats opened the fall season with three successive tournaments, before faltering in dual matches against Bentley (8-1) and Post (6-3), and they'll bring a 1-2 overall record into Saturday's spring season opener
• In singles play, sophomore Mark Veitengruber, the team's MVP a season ago, figures to lead the group in the No. 1 slot
• Veitengruber went a team-best 7-2 in singles matches during the abbreviated fall campaign
• The Wildcats figure to lean heavily on returners Gregory Lowe, John LeMar, Joey Gentile and Adam Kerr in the early going
• Redshirt-freshman Andrew LeMar is also a player to watch after going 5-4 in singles play last fall
• Lowe and Gentile will likely form the Wildcats' top doubles pairing at the outset
• The Wildcats also await the healthy returns of freshmen Justin Milner and David Gonzalez Villegas who each suffered injuries last fall

ELMIRA GROUND STROKES

• Elmira is a member of NCAA Division III and the Empire 8 Conference
• The Soaring Eagles return five starters from their 2014-15 team which achieved an 8-8 overall record, and a 5-3 in league play to qualify for the Empire 8 Conference Tournament for the first time in seven seasons
• Elmira will turn to seniors Satchal Waters and Austin Mansell to lead the way this spring
• Waters went 8-4 in singles play while appearing in the No. 2 position last year, and he'll enter his final campaign as the program's all-time leader in doubles victories with 26
• Mansell went 9-3 in the No. 3 singles slot last season, and his 23 career singles victories put him in a three-way tie for second all-time at Elmira
• The Soaring Eagles competed just once last fall, dropping a 7-2 decision on the road to SUNY Oswego; Chris Konow and Patrick Tracey scored for Elmira in the match, each winning their respective singles matches.

ALL-TIME SERIES NOTES

• Saturday's match marks just the second all-time meeting between Daemen and Elmira
• The Soaring Eagles own a 1-0 lead in the all-time series after scoring 5-4 win in the lone previous meeting which occurred on March 8, 2014
• Elmira took two out of three in doubles play to start the match before grabbing the three required singles victories to squeeze past the Wildcats
• Adam Kerr and Gregory Lowe paired in the No. 2 doubles slot to earn a point for Daemen
• In singles play, the Wildcats got wins from Kiran Kudaravalli (No. 1), Lowe (No. 2) and John Wilson (No. 6)

UP NEXT FOR DAEMEN: The Wildcats trek to The Wolverine State for road tilts vs. Hillsdale (Feb. 13) and Grand Valley State (Feb. 14).

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