Murray State University Athletics
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New Editions, Returning Experience, Look To Lead MSU Men's Tennis To Success In 2006
2/9/2006 6:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
"We have a lot of room to improve," said MSU Head Coach Mel Purcell, beginning his 10th season at the helm of the Racer program. "Finishing eighth put a bad taste in everyone's mouth. The guys are working hard, I don't have to stay on them, they want to do the extra things it takes to get better."
The Racers open their 2006 season on Friday when they travel to Terre Haute, Ind., to face Indiana State University. The match will begin at 6:00 p.m.
Purcell's 2006 squad is young, but, with five of last year's six starters returning, it is experienced. The roster consists of just one senior, four juniors, three sophomores and one freshman.
Included among those returning players is one of the best players in the Ohio Valley Conference. Fadi Zamjaoui (Casablanca, Morocco) earned second team all-conference honors and finished his first season at MSU as the runner-up in the voting for the league's player of the year award. The junior's 11-9 singles record was the only winning singles mark on the team.
"Fadi is very quick, has good touch and a big forehand," Purcell said. "His strenghth is his mental approach and ability to move his opponent around."
With newcomer Dmytro Hryhorash (Lviv, Ukraine), along with Zamjaoui, Purcell believes he'll have a very effective one-two punch.
"We're going into the season with very good one and two players," Purcell said. "From what I've seen they are definitely two of the best in the conference."
Hryhorash, a junior, joins the team from Vincennes University, a junior college in Vincennes, Ind., and will make an immediate impact as a Racer. He was a two-time ITA All-American and a two-time Region XII number one singles champion.
"Dmytro has a big forehand, a big serve and a nice touch," said Purcell. "He's going to add strength to our doubles and give us a very strong one and two."
Purcell will have a host of players that he can draw from to fill the three through six spots in his line-up. Senior Craig Jacobs (Murray, Ky.), juniors Clayton Clark (Belleville, Ill.) and Jeff Lester (Harrodsburg, Ky.), and sophomores Hunter Gerlach (Louisville, Ky.) and Yuri Pompeu (Sovacaba, Brazil) return from last season's team. They'll be joined by newcomers freshman Mikel Headford (LaGrange, Ky.) and sophomore Nicolas Kziesopolski (Toronto, Ontario).
"I have seven guys that can fill those four spots, so that part of the line-up is a work in progress," said Purcell. "In practice I've seen everybody working hard and haven't seen anyone step far ahead of the others."
Jacobs begins his fifth season as a Racer, having redshirted as a freshman. Purcell will count on his lone senior to be a leader on and off the court. Jacobs finished 1-8 last season in singles matches, but was 1-0 against OVC opponents.
"Craig is a great team leader," Purcell said. "He always works hard and has really improved his serve."
Clark posted five wins at number three doubles a year ago.
"Clayton brings great attitude to the team," said Purcell. "His strength on the court is his backhand but he is also an excellent student."
Lester was second on the team in 2005 with six singles victories. He also went 4-4 at number four singles against OVC opponents.
"Jeff is a scrapper," Purcell said. "He's not a real strong guy but he works extremely hard on every point. He runs down every ball and has a lot of determination."
Gerlach finished his first collegiate season with a 4-11 singles record and added three doubles victories. Two of his four singles wins came against OVC opponents.
"Hunter is a really good doubles player," said Purcell. "He's a hard worker and played well at the five and six spots last year as a freshman."
Pompeu won four singles and four doubles matches during his freshman season. He accounted for all three MSU wins at the number three singles spot.
"Yuri has a good forehand and a good backhand," said Purcell. "He needs to work on his quickness but has that desire to get better."
Headford played four seasons at Oldham County High School where he was team captain and played number one singles.
"Mikel has shown a lot of heart and grit in the fall and in practice," Purcell said. "He's a big hitter, but just needs to work on his control. He's going to be a great asset to our team."
Kziesopolski joins the Racer program after spending his freshman season at East Carolina University. He was 0-1 in his only singles appearance of the season for the Pirates. He won two regional and city championships at Humberside Collegiate in Toronto.
"Nicolas has a big serve and a willingness to play hard," added Purcell. "I've got to work with him on getting to the net more but he is definitely going to help us."
According to the coach, the strengths of this Racer team will be its desire and heart, and its number one and two singles players.
"I have a lot of guys that want to work hard, I'm not going to have to light a fire to get them going, they're doing a lot on their own." said Purcell. "The one and two guys are definitely a strength, both in singles and doubles."
On the other hand, Purcell knows that this team must improve on last year's weakness, doubles play.
"We just didn't get it going last year," Purcell added. "With the addition of Nicolas and Dymtryo we're going to be better, but we have to work early to find the right combinations. That doubles point is key to the momentum of the match. It's a lot tougher to have to win four out of six singles matches if you lose that doubles point, it's not as difficult if you get that point from the start."
Purcell sees Samford University as the team to beat in the Ohio Valley Conference in 2006. The Bulldogs didn't lose anyone from their 2005 runner-up squad. Jacksonville State, the defending OVC Champions, lost five of six starters. Tennessee Tech also figures to be in the hunt in 2006. With four new coaches in the league a lot of question marks remain surrounding the 2006 season.
"Everybody is going to be better," said Purcell. "All these new coaches are energetic. It's going to be tough, we have to be ready for each match."
