University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville Men's Tennis to Open 2010 Season at Home on Saturday
02.04.2010 | Men's Tennis
Third-year coach Lise Gregory is excited about this year's team. Asheville returns most of its team from last season and added some impressive newcomers who should make an immediate impact for the Bulldogs this spring.
"We're quite excited about the opening of the season," stated Gregory. "We have more depth than we've ever had since and that can only make us better.
"We lost a lot of close matches a year ago and had some injuries that hurt our depth," added Gregory. "This year's team is really easy to coach. They're pushing each other in practice every day and that's how you get better."
The Bulldogs are a young team with only one senior and junior on this year's squad. The other six players are either freshmen or sophomores.
Senior Nicolai Nonnenbroich and junior Nathan White are the only upper classmen. White is the most experienced Bulldog as he's played two full years for Asheville. Nonnenbroich joined the team last year and played well until an ankle injury slowed him down.
The sophomore class consists of Alex Appelt, Jonas Brobek and Thomas Rees. Appelt and Brobek played a great deal for the Bulldogs in 2009. Rees enjoyed a great deal of success at Tuculum College last year before joining the Asheville program last fall.
The Bulldogs will have three freshmen who all should make an impact this season. They are Adrien Langeard from France, Ryan Matthews from Greensboro and Matt Waissen from Great Britain. Langeard and Waissen could play 1-2 for Asheville in singles this year. The duo posted some impressive results in the fall.
"We think we know who will play the first two flights but after that it's not clear-cut," declared Gregory. "We do have a lot of options this year."
UNC Asheville tennis has a new home this year at the Crowne Plaza Tennis Center. Gregory is pleased to call that home for the Bulldogs.
"We're really excited about the Crowne Plaza Tennis Center being our home," commented Gregory. "It is a wonderful facility that we look forward to playing in for many years to come."
