2007-08 Raider Preview

Mount Union College's 2007-08 men's tennis team is expected to return five of seven letterwinners from last year's squad (18-5/8-1 OAC in 2006-07) that finished Co-Regular Season Champions in the Ohio Athletic Conference and placed third overall during OAC Tournament play. The 18 wins ties a single-season school mark set in 2001-02.

The Purple Raiders will likely be paced by sophomores Brian Widdoes (Reynoldsburg) and Jimmy Jeffries (Canton/GlenOak).

Widdoes earned Second-Team All-OAC honors in 2007 going 20-1 at mainly #3 singles, which is a new Raider one-year mark for singles victories and also is a Raider freshmen single-season record. He also posted a 16-6 doubles record competing mainly at #3 doubles in '06-07. Widdoes' 36 total victories, combining singles and doubles play, also set a new Purple Raider single-season record.

"Brian (Widdoes) is coming off an outstanding freshman season," said Raider Head Coach Jeff Wojtowicz, who is entering his 14th year in charge of the Raider men's tennis program. "He is a very consistent performer who does an excellent job of identifying his opponent's weakness and exploiting those weaknesses."

Jeffries earned Honorable-Mention All-OAC status during the 2006-07 season. He accumulated a 19-1 record competing mainly at #6 singles and set a new Mount Union record for consecutive wins (19) in one-year.

"Jimmy (Jeffries) is a very talented player," added Wojtowicz. "He was injured early on last fall and that set him back for a period of time. When he regained his health he played extremely well, as indicated by his 19 wins. We expect him back at full health this year and ready to have an outstanding season."

Other returning letterwinners include junior Brian Belconis (Geneva), sophomore Brian Mogus (Canton/South), and sophomore Travis Papay (Chagrin Falls/Kenston).

Belconis posted a 13-8 singles record, competing mainly at #5 singles, and a team best 17-5 doubles record, competing mainly at #2 doubles in '06-07.

"Brian (Belconis) combines an aggressive attitude, an excellent serve and consistency," said the coach. "He is an experienced player who should be one of our team leaders in '07-08."

Mogus accumulated a 11-6 singles record, with a bulk of play at #2 singles, and a 14-4 doubles mark, coming mostly at #3 doubles.

"Brian (Mogus) is one of our better athletes," noted Wojtowicz. "He is a dual-sport (soccer) athlete at Mount Union. He has good size and is very calm, cool and collected when he takes the court."

Papay finished with a 12-9 singles record, competing mostly at #4 singles, and he had eight wins competing with partner Jimmy Jeffries at #1 doubles.

"Travis (Papay) is one of our most fierce competitors," said Wojtowicz. "He is excellent at the net and has a strong ground stroke game."

Mount Union will also return senior Kevin Kreighbaum (Cuyahoga Falls), a two-year letter winner, who missed most of the 2006-07 season to an injury.

In 2008, the Raiders will again spend one week competing in Hilton Head, SC during the College's spring break in early March.

"I firmly believe if you want to have an outstanding tennis program, you must take that trip during spring break and have your players work on their game and competing," emphasized Wojtowicz. "It is a great opportunity to get away, evaluate the talent you have and bond as a team. It also prepares us well for our upcoming spring conference schedule."

In 2007, the Ohio Athletic Conference received an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Men's Tennis Tournament. The winner of the conference tournament in 2008 will earn an automatic trip to the NCAA Tournament.

"Having our conference tournament champion getting an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament is tremendous for the conference and the individual players in the OAC," said Wojtowicz. "It's a great motivator and a tremendous reward for accomplishing a hard-to-reach goal. Our team goal is always to win the OAC, and we feel with the players we have returning, we have the ability to once again compete for the conference championship."

Wojtowicz also has high praise for his incoming recruiting class.

"The talent level of this freshmen class is very good. It is comparable to the group we brought in a year ago. When you have success on the court like we did in '06-07, the quality of your recruiting class the following year usually improves. We believe that is the case with our program. We like the direction we're headed in."

The Purple Raider men's tennis program has posted double-digit victories in seven of the last eight seasons, accumulating a total of 113 wins over that span ' good for an average of 14 victories per season. Mount Union has a pair of OAC regular season titles (2002 & 2007) and a conference tournament title in 2000.