United States Coast Guard Academy - Department of Athletics - Men's Tennis

The only downfall to having a great season with a senior laden team is trying to rebuild and that is exactly what the Bears face this season after going 10-7 and advancing to the semifinals New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament for the second straight season. Coast Guard and first year head coach Jim Hazlin will have to replace four talented seniors, who played every match a year ago.

Thomas Brittingham, Cheryl Hickey, Dan Lavinder and Matt Nakagawa all graduated leaving the Bears a very inexperienced group for the 2006-2007 season.

Junior captain Ryan Beck is the Bears top returner. He was 10-7 in singles action last season, he was 8-6 at #2 singles and 2-0 at the #1 spot, a position he will take over this year.

The other top returner for the Bears is sophomore Lynn Schrayshuen, who plays soccer in the Fall, but will bolster the team with her return in the Spring.

Sophomores Tim Ozimek and Chris Pince are expected to step up and secure a spot in the top six this season while sophomore Eli Baldwin will also figure into the mix.

Coach Hazlin is excited about the freshman class led by Chris Pappe, who was ranked third in Wisconsin in U.S. Tennis Association juniors. Cody Isaacson, Vince Falco and Craig Moebus are also expected to battle for a spot in the top six this season.

“We are going to go out and make ourselves a better team each time we take the court,” said Hazlin. “We will have a very young group and they will learn a lot this season.”

2005 - 2006 Season Review

The Coast Guard men’s tennis team had a great season as the Bears, who were 3-11 in 2004 and 7-7 last season, posted a 10-7 overall record and advanced to the semifinals of the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) tournament for the second straight season.

Senior Dan Lavinder was named a co-second team All-conference selection at the No. 5 singles spot. He was 8-3 at the No. 5 singles spot during the season and had a singles dual record of 10-4, going 3-2 in NEWMAC play. He was 3-1 at No. 5 singles in conference play and clinched conference victories over Springfield and Babson.

The Bears went 1-1 in the fall portion of the schedule and following a loss to Brandeis in the spring opener, the team would win four straight with wins over Johnson & Wales, Kings Point, Rhode Island College and Babson to improve to 5-2 overall.

Coast Guard beat Springfield 4-2 to advanced to the tournament semifinals before losing to powerhouse MIT, which has won every NEWMAC regular season and tournament championship.

Senior captain Matt Nakagawa was the No. 1 singles player all season while sophomore Ryan Beck played at No. 2 singles. Seniors Cheryl Hickey (No. 3 singles) and Thomas Brittingham (No. 4 singles) along with Lavinder (No. 5 singles) and freshman Lynn Schrayshuen (No. 6 singles) rounded out the Bears starting lineup for most of the season.
Nakagawa and Beck formed the No. 1 doubles team, Brittingham played with both Hickey and Lavinder and No. 2 doubles while Hickey and Schrayshuen played a majority of the time at No. 3 doubles for the Bears.

The Bears will have to replace four singles starters with just Beck and Schrayshuen returning as the prepare for the 2007 season.