Freshmen get chance to shine at Western

LOUIS BROWN/Daily The Michigan men's tennis team sends four freshmen to Kalamazoo.

By Nick Felzen
For the Daily

Michigan men's tennis coach Brian Eisner feels very confident about this year's squad.

Eisner recruited a promising crop of freshman players, including a steal from Florida in Danny McCain. As a high school senior, McCain was too old to participate in the Florida 18-and-under division. Left with no alternative, he competed in the men's division, where he finished ranked second in the state.

Ben Cox and Henry Beam, both of whom hail from Michigan, also had impressive results in their junior league showings. The other two freshmen, Jeronie Barnes and Chris Schultz, are competing hard to make the team.

This weekend, McCain, Cox and Beam will compete at Western Michigan, where they will battle players from Michigan State and Depaul. This tournament, however, will not count in the team's record, because fewer than four players are competing. Eisner plans to use the tournament to help the freshmen "jumpstart" the season.

Eisner said this young and enthusiastic team has great potential. The team lost some of the firepower it had last year, in captain and No. 1 singles player David Paradzik, but the Wolverines still have a strong nucleus of upperclassmen to guide the younger players.

"The team's goals are to finish ranked in the top 25 nationally and to make the NCAA tournament," Eisner said.

This season's tournament will field 64 teams, rather than 16 as it has in years past. Eisner said a solid start is vital in order to reach these goals.

To attain success this season, the Wolverines must dispose of this year's strongest Big Ten teams - Illinois, Purdue and Minnesota. The toughest nonconference matches are against Notre Dame, Boise State, Louisville, Virginia and Virginia Tech.

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