The Journal

Issue date: 3/22/07 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Jamie Ford Junior Conway McDonald-O'Leary, a film production major, hits a backhand at practice March 19.

In sports, a 3-6 record and a fifth place finish out of six teams in the conference tournament is usually nothing to get excited about. Don't tell that to Head Coach Mike Siener and members of the men's tennis team. For them, the 2006 season was a stepping stone towards success.


Despite the poor record, the Gorloks showed improvement after finishing 2-9-1 in 2005. The team also won the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's Sportsmanship Award.


"The kids we had last year got us headed in the right direction," Siener said.


The Gorloks will have several players returning this season, including team captain Zach Mangelsdorf. Mangelsdorf, a junior, has been named to two SLIAC Academic All-Conference Teams and was SLIAC's newcomer of the year in 2005.


This year's team also will rely heavily on a trio of promising newcomers. Among the arrivals at Webster are freshmen Rolf Rothermel and Tomoya Homma. Rothermel comes to the Gorloks from the United Kingdom, while Homma is from Japan. Junior Mark Sherman also joins the team after transferring to Webster from Ancilla Community College in Indiana.


"They are all key parts," Mangelsdorf said about his new teammates. "Rolf is an amazing player, Tomoya made a lot of improvement since the fall pre-season and Mark is a good player. They are all going to help out."


Siener has Rothermel, Mangelsdorf, Homma and Sherman penciled into to the one, two, three and four positions, respectively. In tennis, there are six positions. Traditionally, the most skilled player on a team will occupy the first position, the next most skilled player the second spot and so on. Each player competes against the player seeded in the same position from the opposing team. However, Siener believes each position is critical to the team's success.


"Our No. 1 is as valuable and important as our No. 6," Siener said. "Each individual has got to perform in matches. My No. 1 and 2 players may be talent-wise better than the bottom end of the six, but individually each spot is important.


Returning juniors David Chow, Corey Kuhn and Conway McDonald-O'Leary and sophomore Jacob Gossage will compete for the No. 5 and 6 positions on the team. Freshman Dino Fajic will factor into the mix as well, Siener said.

Continued...

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