Season Preview: Men's Tennis looks to the youth movement in 2016
By Ashley Birchmeier
ADA — The Ohio Northern men's tennis team will look to the youth movement in 2016 under ninth-year head coach Bob Rohan.
ONU welcomes back two lettermen from last year's squad that went 6-11 overall and finished sixth in the Ohio Athletic Conference with a 3-5 league mark.
"We will be exciting and young," Rohan said. "We will be a different team this season than we were last year. Our lineup will be young, but those guys are talented. I expect us to be exciting and competitive. How quickly our young guys mature will likely determine how successful we are as a team."
Senior John Mostowy is a three-time All-OAC honoree and will serve as team captain for the Polar Bears.
He has led ONU in singles play for each of the past two seasons and finished with an 8-8 record last year.
In three seasons at Ohio Northern, Mostowy has a 94-35 overall record and needs just six more victories to become the 22nd member of the 100-Win Club.
Mostowy is also a two-time Academic All-Conference selection.
Junior Alex Genbauffe is the second returning letterman in 2015-16.
Genbauffe went 8-15 overall, playing prinmarily at No. 6 singles and No. 3 doubles.
Junior Daniel Warren also returns after playing in a reserve role the past two seasons.
Five talented newcomers, sophomore Nathan Knodel and freshmen Jake Abbott, Lance Brown, David Hayman and Tim Kargl, will likely contribute right away.
The Polar Bears will open the 2016 season on their annual Spring Break trip to Orlando, Fla. February 28-March 2 where they will play in five matches against a challenging schedule.
ONU will then return North to play at Ohio Wesleyan, Franciscan and Saint Francis (Ind.) on the road in March.
Northern will open Ohio Athletic Conference play April when John Carroll comes to Ada for a 1 pm match.
The Polar Bears will participate in the annual OAC Tennis Fest at the Lindner Tennis center in Mason, Ohio, April 15-17.
Men's Tennis will close out the regular season with home matches against Baldwin Wallace and Heidelberg and a road contest at Capital in late April.
The OAC Tournament is slated for May 3-7, with the semifinals and finals being held at the Lindner Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio.