Mary Washington Seeks 15th Straight CAC Men's Tennis Crown This Spring

Mary Washington is the 14-time defending CAC men's tennis champion, but the conference has gone through a makeover that could make it more challenging for the Eagles to defend their thrown.

The Eagles, who play a challenging non-conference schedule with a mixture of NCAA Division I and III opponents, return standouts such as senior Alex Blakhin, junior Tyler Carey and sophomore David Lunding-Johansson and will be formidable on the conference and national levels.

The long-time list of challengers from Salisbury, St. Mary's, York and Frostburg State has been supplemented with the addition of Christopher Newport, Penn State Harrisburg and Southern Virginia as members of the CAC.  All three newcomers have experienced men's tennis success in past seasons and expect that success to continue this spring.

Most CAC teams competed in a few events in the fall season, including the annual Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) regional tournaments, and a few have already played matches during the spring championship season.

Seven of the eight teams will be battling for a berth in the five-team 2014 CAC Championship Tournament.  Southern Virginia, in its second year of a four-year NCAA provisional membership process, is not eligible for CAC post-season play until the 2014-15 athletic season.  The CAC playoffs begin April 20 and culminate with the title match on April 26.

Here is a quick look at each team heading into the 2014 season:

CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT will be led by Director of Tennis Eric Christiansen in his second season at the helm for the Captains. The team will feature a talented group of newcomers joining a strong contingent of returners in 2014. With three seniors and no juniors on the squad, the Captains will rely heavily on the younger players, including sophomore Chiraag Shetty. Shetty was a first team All-Conference selection a year ago and comes into his second year already with 14 wins at the No. 1 position. Rookies Steven Boslet and Sam Thomson have impressed early this season, and Finnish import Arttu Fiva has also earned a spot in the top six for the Captains. Out of the senior class, Joey Manilla will lead the pack, coming off All-Conference honors in 2013.

FROSTBURG STATE head coach Stuart Swink, entering his 12th-year, is optimistic that his Bobcat men's tennis squad is ready to turn things around this season after a tough spring in 2013. Junior Kenny Alban enters the season as the No. 2 singles player and will be part of the No. 1 doubles team. A year ago, he totaled eight wins. Sophomore Arun Pant will be the team's No. 3 singles player and should be a part of the No. 2 doubles squad.

MARY WASHINGTON enters the spring looking to repeat as CAC champions and return a slew of veteran experience. Senior Alex Blakhin and junior Tyler Carey lead an Eagles team that features four newcomers. Blakhin went 10-16 in singles play a year ago, while Carey finished 15-14 and earned All-American honors, finishing ranked at #20 nationally. David Lunding-Johansson led the team in singles wins with 17 last season. Freshman Alex Cragg, Brandon Griffin, Scott Buie and Andrew Curtis will look to make an immediate impact for the #28 ranked team in the nation.

PENN STATE HARRISBURG earned a reputation in the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) as one of the league's tougher programs, but the men will begin a new era in hopes of making a name for themselves in the much tougher Capital Athletic Conference.  On the roster is a solid group of individuals starting with their captains, Tyler Loy and Vincent Lepore III. Both will be called upon to keep the team focused as they face new challenges in the conference. In order for the Blue & White to add to their fall win total, they will also need Tyler Miller, a player who went undefeated in both singles and doubles a year ago, to step up. Ben Leibig and Johnny Xue have shown consistency in their fall play and should help add much needed depth to the lineup.

ST. MARY'S first-year coach Greg Shedd inherits a lineup that includes the reigning CAC Co-Player of the Year – senior captain Andrew Gear at the No. 1 singles and doubles positions.  The Seahawks posted a 12-8 overall record in 2013, including a 3-2 mark for third place in the CAC.  Gear, who was SMC's Male Athlete of the Year and a first-team Capital One Academic All-American in 2013, boasted a 16-5 singles record and a 17-5 doubles mark with sophomore returnee Mark Hardesty last year.  Gear enters his final campaign for the Seahawks with a 56-11 career singles record.

SALISBURY returns its lineup from last season, headlined by Daniel Albers and Eric Spangler, the previous two CAC Rookies of the Year.  Albers went 11-11 last season playing in the No. 1 spot, while Spangler went 14-7, mostly playing in the No. 2 position.  Albers and Spangler played together in the top doubles spot last year, going 17-5 and look to build upon that success.  The team has depth throughout the lineup, with seniors Adam Goldberger and Shane Gunther, and junior Demetri Vrahnos having won double digit matches last year.

SOUTHERN VIRGINIA returns a solid team from the fall that includes a nice mix of both older and younger players. Brian Blocher and Pradeep Ravisankar are the team's core returners from the 2012-13 season and have proven to be consistent leaders. Brennan Alford and Adam Blocher recently returned from two-year church service missions and look to be solid additions to the team.  True freshmen Zac Bowers and Cooper Brown had a really nice fall seasons and hope to continue to play well both individually and as a doubles pair. Dallin Evans and Ravisankar look to continue to do well in doubles play following a strong fall season together.  The team is also excited to play on its brand new tennis courts that were completed just weeks ago. The CAC will provide a tremendous challenge for every dual, but the Knights are excited to go out and compete and represent the university well.

Note:  As a second-year NCAA Division III provisional member, Southern Virginia is not eligible for the CAC team championship/standings.  However, the Knights student-athletes are eligible for all CAC individual awards.  Southern Virginia will be eligible for team recognition in all sports beginning with the 2014-15 academic year.

YORK heads into the spring off a solid fall campaign as they went 3-1 during their limited fall schedule. Freshman Kaltrin Bullaj went 3-0 during the fall while Daniel Erk and Jake Greenstein each went 3-1. The duo of Erk and Nathaniel Hoskins proved to be York's top doubles team in the fall as they went a combined 3-0 as York went 7-5 in doubles play. Senior Tyler Cheatham will man the number one position while Matt Rosenkrantz is the Spartans' number two singles player. Hoskins, Erk, Greenstein and Bullaj round out the Spartans' solid lineup.