By: Shawn Patrickson
Anchor Sports Writer
The season results couldn’t have been any more different from what the Rhode Island College men’s tennis team was hoping for this spring. The Anchor- men made a run to the semi-finals of last years Little East Conference Tournament, but failed to even qualifying for the post-season tournament this year. A season that had low expectations after the loss of several key players and a lot of depth was ended on the road by the Huskies of the University of Southern Maine as they got the best of the Anchormen with a 7-2 win handing RIC their sixth Little East Conference loss on the year and effectively ending their season. Sophomore captain Alex Werchadlo was the lone bright spot for the Anchormen as he has been for most of the season. The hard-hitting right- hander won his match at the number one singles slot with a 7-6 tie-breaker first set followed by a dominating 6-2 second set. The young leader went 6-7 this season during his first year at the number one slot. He will most likely get two more years of playing it and if he can keep it up he will be an anchor for the RIC line up. Werchadlo also picked up a doubles win com- bining with freshman Anthony Defrancesco to lock up a win at the top doubles spot. The two played together four times this season locking up wins in half of those matches. Defrancesco is another promising project for head coach Lorne Teeter to work with over then up coming years. Going 0-10 at the two spot and only collecting one win at the four spot this season will not help his confidence however. He has a classic tennis problem that he will have to overcome if he’s going to emerge into a solid two spot player; he beats himself. Beyond the top two spots, the Anchormen found themselves scrambling to field a competitive lineup on a day-to-day basis. Several times though the year they forfeited the last doubles and singles spots because they did not have a player to fill the slot. Next year will be a toss up in regards to the possible success for the team. It would appear that Werchadlo and Defrancesco would be returning to the lineup, as would it for most of the rest of the team. The Anchormen graduate one senior in Jason Morin. Morin went just 3-12 on this season with two of his wins coming at the two spot. It has been rumored that former Anchormen all-conference player Kyle Kelaghan may make a return next season which would certainly be a start for the RIC rebuild. Beyond that it will be up to Teeter and the class that he brings in to help Werchadlo.
