The Georgetown men’s tennis team looks to regain its form as its spring season opens this weekend at the Virginia Commonwealth University 4+1 Tournament in Richmond, Va.
The VCU Tournament gives the team an opportunity to get back on the courts and shake off the winter rust. Georgetown will play four singles matches and one doubles match each against Campbell, East Carolina, East Tennessee State and Richmond.
“We will get some experience and get some matches under our belts,” Georgetown Head Coach Gordie Ernst said. “I’m looking for them to get back to where they were in November because they were very solid in November.”
Ernst noted that the men had a strong fall season, defeating George Washington for the first time in five years and recording individual wins over players from tennis powerhouses like Florida and Kentucky. Ernst said he was also pleased with the Hoyas’ performance at the Georgetown Fall Classic Tournament last September.
“It’s evident that the players did a lot of practicing over winter break because they came back and everyone seems to be fired up and sharp,” Ernst said.
Ernst plans on using the tournament to help determine his lineup at the outset of the season.
Junior captain Jeff Schnell, a transfer from American University, is one of the early favorites to play first singles. Last year he captained the Eagles team that won the Patriot League Championship and turned in a solid fall for the Hoyas.
Ernst will also look to junior captain Etienne Paris. Paris was one of Georgetown’s captains last season and spent most of the year in the top singles spot, recording a 5-6 record at first singles.
Ernst said the lineup is wide open right now. Even the team’s three freshmen – Will Lowell, Anthony Tan and David Tillem – will be in the mix for the top six spots on the team, Ernst said.
Ernst, in his first year at Georgetown, will look to improve on the Hoyas’ 6-13 overall record (2-3 Big East) from last season. Georgetown qualified for the Big East Conference tournament but fell to top-seeded and eventual runner-up Notre Dame in the first round. The Hoyas failed to win a dual match in the tournament’s consolation bracket and finished in eighth place.
After the VCU tournament, which opens today and goes through Sunday, the men will have two weeks off before they jump into their dual-match season. The Hoyas play at Maryland on Feb. 2 and at Navy on Feb. 3.
