Making a Racket at MACs

SELINSGROVE, Pa. — The Susquehanna University men’s tennis team will be competing in the 2001 Middle Atlantic Conference Championships on Friday-Saturday, April 27-28 in Wilkes-Barre.

Action begins at 9 a.m. on Friday and concludes on Saturday with semifinal and finals action in both singles and doubles.

The Crusaders finished with a 4-6 overall record (2-3 Commonwealth Conference) under 21st-year head coach Gary Fincke, and four of the six members of the regular-season starting lineup will be in action at the championships.

Competing in singles will be senior Don Eckert and junior Rob Logan, while the teams of senior Tim Peters and freshman Karl Rosen will be in doubles action along with the duo of sophomore Brian Ardire and senior Ben Stapelfeld.

Senior captain Ben DeBell (Concord, N.H./Londonderry H.S.) and freshman Adam Marichak (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Mechanicsburg H.S.) will be unable to participate at the MAC championships due to injury and illness, respectively.

Eckert (Conklin, N.Y./Susquehanna Valley H.S.) battled back from a preseason injury to compile a 1-4 record primarily at number-four singles this season. Logan (Mountain Top, Pa./Crestwood H.S.) went 5-3 during the 2001 season, including a mark of 5-2 at number-six singles.

Peters (New York, N.Y./Millbrook School) and Rosen (Rocky Hill, N.J./Montgomery H.S.) played well as the number-one doubles team during the year, compiling a 6-2 mark as a tandem. Peters played number-one singles during the season and went 3-6 while Rosen was 3-7 at number-two singles.

Ardire (Hummelstown, Pa./Hershey H.S.) and Stapelfeld (Duncansville, Pa./Hollidaysburg Area H.S.) did not compete as a team in doubles this season, but both saw extensive action with other partners. Ardire finished 3-7 while teaming primarily with DeBell, and Stapelfeld fashioned a 2-3 mark with two different partners.

Susquehanna has claimed two Middle Atlantic Conference singles champions in the 41-year history of the program — Dan Patterson as a senior in 1986 and Carlos Albertotti as a freshman in 1994. The Crusaders have never won a MAC doubles crown.

#jem/2500#