Bridgewater, Virginia Wesleyan Round Out Top Three

 FOREST, Va. --- Washington and Lee University received 10 first place votes towards 100 total points to lead the 2014 ODAC Men's Tennis Preseason Poll.  Bridgewater College collected 83 tallies to hold down second position, while Virginia Wesleyan College is third with 75 points.  Guilford College picked up the remaining first place nod and 68 points to rank fourth in the annual coach's survey.

The Generals represented the ODAC in the NCAA Division III postseason, entering as an automatic qualifier in the team tournament and showing well in the NCAA Division III Singles and Double Championships at Kalamzoo College.  In the team draw, the Generals dropped their opening regional match, 5-3, to N.C. Wesleyan College.  In singles action, recent graduate Hayden White bowed out in the round of 16 to Patrick Lipscomb from the University of Redlands.

Taylor Shamshiri and Michael Holt represented W&L and the ODAC in the doubles competition.  The duo bested opponents from Middlebury College and the University of Washington-St. Louis to punch a ticket to the semifinals.  Shamshiri and Holt were stopped in the semifinals by Robert Kjellberg and Artsiom Prostak from N.C. Wesleyan (6-3, 7-6).

Two ODAC squads enter the spring season ranked in the ITA Atlantic South Region.  Washington and Lee holds down fourth, while Bridgewater chimes in 15th.  Individually, Virginia Wesleyan College's Graham Wilson is the lone ODAC singles player on the region lists, sitting 17th.  Holt and Shamshiri are the third-rated doubles pairing.

Washington and Lee (18-6 overall, 10-0 in ODAC play in 2013) welcomes back six all-conference standouts from 2014, including five from the All-ODAC First Team.  Shamshiri (10-8 overall, 8-8 at #2 singles), Holt (9-5, 7-5 at #3), Chris Hu (12-4, 9-4 at #4), Brian Krouskos (10-8, 5-6 at #5) and Vincent Kim (5-4, 3-4 at #6) occupy first team slots from #2-thru-#6 singles, sequentially.  Holt and Shamshiri (18-3, 17-3 at #1), who reached the semifinals of the ITA Southeast Regional tournament in the fall, return after first team doubles honors in 2013.  Krouskos and partner John Kirby (6-4, 5-4 at #3) earned All-ODAC Third Team accolades at #3 doubles.

Bridgewater (14-8, 9-1) is one of six squads under new leadership this season as Sam Varner steps in as the interim head coach.  BC returns four all-conference performers, including first team choice Brandon Larsen (12-8, 9-4 at #2) at #2 singles and Sam Churchill (15-6, 13-5 with partner at #3) as one-half of the first team #3 doubles pairing.  Christian Lynn (10-7, 10-7 at #4) earned All-ODAC Second Team honors at #4 singles, while Churchill (12-5, 8-5 at #6) did the same from the sixth ladder position.  Lynn and Mike Cable (8-11) teamed up for third team honors at #2 doubles.

Virginia Wesleyan (11-12, 6-4) and new head coach Darryl Cummings feature the second-year duo of Drew Tomajczyk and Wilson (17-6) that earned first team honors at #1 doubles in 2013.  Wilson (17-4, 17-4 at #1) picked up second team laurels at #1 singles.  Tomajczyk (10-12, 10-12 at #2) appears poised to reprise his role at #2 singles, while Spencer Bullock (6-9, 6-9 at #3) and Tyler Chang (9-8, 8-5 at #4) work out of  the third and fourth ladder positions, respectively.

Guilford (8-8, 6-4) is bolstered by the return of third team #1 singles player Turner Votipka (7-8, 7-8 at #1) in addition to Trevor Cox (7-8, 5-4 at #3) and Erik Meiler (6-10, 3-7 at #2), who both spent time at the #2 and #3 flights.  John Brvenik (5-7, 3-6 at #5) and Blake Brown (3-5, 2-5 at #6) have experience playing in the #5 and #6 positions.

Hampden-Sydney College (5-9, 4-6) welcomes back some experience in #1 singles player Zack King (1-11, 1-11 at #1) and #2 competitor David Dodson (5-7, 5-7 at #2).  Dodson won his singles flight (B6) at the ITA regional this past fall, as did newcomer Thatcher Jennings (B7).  Houston Wilson (6-6, 4-4 at #6), who joins King as team captains, adds further depth.

Randolph-Macon College (10-13, 4-6) and Roanoke College (9-8, 5-5) will both be under new leadership, with Charles Gray stepping in as Director of Tennis at R-MC and Jim Schaefer serving as head coach at RC.  The Yellow Jackets return their #1 doubles tandem in Michael Baxter and Connor Hoerr (9-14, 9-14 at #1).  John Adam teamed with newcomer Brantley Stein at the ITA regional to win the consolation draw at B1 doubles.  Hoerr (10-11, 10-11 at #1), Baxter (10-13, 9-12 at #2) and Adam (11-7, 7-5 at #3) played out of the top three singles flights a season ago, respectively.  The Maroons also return experienced players, including Matthew Kessler (8-8, 7-6 at #1) at #1/2 singles.  Chris Migliarese (5-11, 5-6 at #4), Jake Morris (11-6, 9-2 at #6) and Lewis Young (3-13, 3-9 at #3) each spent time at several flight positions.

Emory & Henry College (14-4, 8-2) and new head coach Kevin Girard welcome back Alex Minasyan (10-1, 9-1 at #2) and Jonathan Romano (0-1) to this season's singles rotation.  Minasyan will most likely man the #1 position in 2014.  Several newcomers will be expected to contribute for the Wasps, including Kamil Aliev and John Ferguson in the top-tier flights.

Randolph College (4-12, 0-10) and Lynchburg College (4-11, 1-9) look to make strides in the Hill City this season.  The WildCats welcome back #1 singles player Daniil Lyalko (3-9, 3-9 at #1) and #6 competitor Dan Phung (3-11, 3-9 at #2).  First year JT von Seggern competed well at the ITA regional.  He and several other new players will be expected to contribute this season.  Ryan Fitzwilliam takes over the coaching reins at Lynchburg in 2014.  Matt Karvelas (5-6, 5-6 at #1) and Josh Johnson (2-9, 2-6 at #3) lead the list of singles returners.  Tyler Long and Karvelas (9-4, 8-4 at #3) proved a winning combination at #3 doubles in 2013.

Shenandoah University (5-11, 2-8) enters its second season of ODAC play with Steven Baker (6-10, 6-3 at #2) back in tow.  He's joined by Will Leach (9-5, 4-2 at #6), who competed at several singles flights.  Zach O'Neal (5-10, 3-5 at #5) and Dustan DeMello (2-5, 2-3 at #4) also return.

The 2014 men's tennis season begins on Saturday, February 15.  For more information on ODAC men's tennis, visit any of the participating schools’ websites or go to the ODAC’s home on the Internet at www.odaconline.com.  Don't forget to become a fan of the ODAC on Facebook and follow @odacathletics on Twitter.

2014 ODAC MEN'S TENNIS PRESEASON POLL
(#) Denotes first place votes