Men's Tennis

2008 Season Preview

The 2008 Clark University men’s tennis team is already off to a promising start. With the induction of first-year head coach Mickey Cahoon, the team has grown from five to twelve members since the fall season. Cahoon is confident that this augmentation will cultivate competitive practices and a new level of play.

“Expectations for the season should be reserved, but there is no reason they can’t be high at the same time,” said Cahoon, a dual-sport coach at Clark. “In less than one calendar year, our roster size has increased and we’ve become more competitive due to that. We do have some returning players and experience to rely on, but we are starting to develop more confidence overall.”

Looking to improve on last season’s 3-7 (1-4 NEWMAC) record, Cahoon welcomes back four letter-winners from last year’s team. Amongst the top returnees, junior Adam Bisceglia, a talented and hard-working leader, will step into the number one spot for the team. Junior Ben Gross, last season’s leader in wins (3), will also make an impact in doubles and singles. Returning as one of the strongest doubles player and most enthusiastic member of the team, junior Rocco Li will be another powerful force for the Cougars. His doubles partner from last year, junior Socheata Ly has shown flashes of promise and will also play a key role.

The squad will also be bolstered by the addition of first-years Matt Finly, Aaron Chin, Ammar Tareen, Nathan Maltais, and Gerald Mee. Finly, a 2007 State Tournament Finalists on Acton-Boxboro’s team, joined the Cougars after attending Dickinson College in the fall and will contend at both singles and doubles, while Chin, a former high school classmate of Rocco Li in Hong Kong, and Tareen, a quick lefty, also hope to contribute in singles play. Maltais will vie for a starting doubles role and Mee, a newcomer to the sport, will also be in the mix. Sophomore Jason Black and juniors Tridib Chowdhury and Mike Zemel, round out the list of Cougar newcomers.

“One luxury is that we don’t have any seniors,” Cahoon said, “which means, in terms of building future success with the program, we have the opportunity to bring everybody back.”

Although Cahoon knows there will be no “gimmes” in the ultra-competitive New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC), he is excited about the season ahead.

“I’ve been pleased with what they’ve given me so far,” said Cahoon. “They are working hard on the court and have bonded off the court as well. They’ve taken an individual sport and put together a team concept, which is great.”

By: Sarah Hunsucker, Sports Information Intern

About the Program

The men's traditional season takes place in the spring. The competitive schedule includes dual matches with every team in the conference, additional matches with local and regional opponents, and a conference tournament at the end of the season. Players also participate in a nontraditional fall season with a limited schedule against local opponents. At home, the team competes on the award-winning Corash Tennis Courts, six newly renovated, lighted courts used for intercollegiate matches and practices, recreational play and special tournaments. The team also uses the Dolan Field House for indoor practice courts.

Highlighting the 2005 season was the Cougars' first spring-break training trip in a decade. In Orlando, Florida, Clark scrimmaged two Division II teams, Philadelphia University and Michigan Tech, and nationally ranked Division III Carnegie Mellon University. Co-captain Ollie Hartman ’05 had a victory at the number-one spot over Carnegie Mellon. Co-captain Nikola Milinkovic ’06 and Anuj Ladha ’06 both had singles wins over Michigan Tech.

Returning home, Clark’s first competitor was the New England weather. With their first two matches canceled, the season opened with a decisive win over Western New England College (9-0). Clark went on to defeat Bridgewater State College, 5-2, recording four singles wins and sweeping all doubles matches. The Cougars also realized a 6-3 victory over Nichols College. The team lost its top singles player, Hartman, to graduation but returns the rest of the lineup for 2006.

Each year the men’s tennis program awards the Dr. Theodore Nicol Sportsmanship Award, which honors a member of the tennis team who best exemplifies the highest traits of sportsmanship, integrity and camaraderie.