Men's Tennis to Face Shepherd on Tuesday Afternoon
Mount St. Mary's (0-0) at Shepherd (0-0)
Tuesday, September 21, 3:30 p.m.
Shepherdtown, W. Va.
Mount Update: The Mount opened the 2010-11 season at the George Mason Invitational. Matthew Blake, Andrew Marinucci and Mike Salomon each went 1-1 in singles action in the event that was shortened to one day due to rain. In doubles play, the Mount had three tandems win their only match.
About Shepherd: The Rams will be playing their season opener after posting a 4-22 record last year.
Last Meeting: The Mount cruised to a 7-0 win over Shepherd last year at the Mount St. Mary's Tennis Courts. The Mount won all six singles matches in straight sets with four coming by the scoring of 6-0, 6-0.
The All-Time Series: Mount St. Mary's and Shepherd have split the 12 all-time meetings in the series that began in 1989. The Mount's 7-0 win over the Rams last year snapped a two-match losing streak against the Rams. The Mount is 2-3 all-time on the road against Shepherd.
About Last Year: The Mount's 12 wins last season were the most by a Mount team since the 2005-06 squad went 13-12. In addition, the Mount had a nine-win improvement from the previous season. Freshmen Matthew Blake and Mike Salomon tied for the team lead with 17 singles wins on the year.
Senior Leadership: Returnees Patrick Plastow and Andrew Marinucci, three-year starters for the Mount, bring a ton of experience to the Mount lineup. Last season, Plastow played at the No. 1 spot while Marinucci was the Mount's No. 4 player. The pair has combined to play 140 career singles matches at the Mount.
Strong Sophomore Class: Sophomores Matthew Blake, Mike Salomon and Taylor Place made are coming off strong rookie seasons with the Mountaineers. The trio combined to go 48-22 in singles action last year. Salomon played at No. 2 singles, posting a 17-9 record on the year. Blake went 17-3 on the season as the Mount's No. 6 player while Place was 14-10 overall while playing at the No. 5 spot in the order.
Record-Setting Doubles Pair: Sophomore Taylor Place teamed with Thad Mostowtt, who graduated in this past May, to go 19-5 last season in doubles play. The 19 wins set a Mount record for wins by a doubles team. In addition, the 19 individual wins by Place and Mostowtt moved the pair into a tie for first place on the single-season individual doubles wins list.
Up Next: The Mount returns to action on Sunday, September 26, with an 11:00 a.m. home match against La Salle.