Sept. 26, 2007

Stony Brook, N.Y. - This is the first installment in what I hope will be a monthly newsletter to all of the supporters of Stony Brook Tennis. From recaps of matches to interesting tidbits about the team and staff, the objective of this letter is to keep you up to date on everything that is Stony Brook Tennis!

The last six months have been extremely busy preparing for the 2007-08 season. We spent plenty of time on the recruiting trail and hopefully we will see the dividends pay off down the road.

The fall season is already under way and there is plenty of exciting news to report. Rob Nunnery, a recent graduate of UNC-Asheville, has been named assistant coach. Rob was a two-year captain for the Bulldogs and a standout on the court as well as in the classroom. Other newcomers to the program are freshmen Artem Badarach '11 (Minsk, Belarus), Ivan Rummel '11 (Budapest, Hungary) and William Allen `11 (England).

Last weekend the women ventured up to West Point, NY to compete in the Eastern Collegiate Invitational. Sophomore Paola Rodlfi '10 (Asuncion, Paraguay) was the weekend's standout performer for the Seawolves. Paola reached the finals of the second flight singles and defeated players from Army, Loyola, Marist and West Virginia along the way.

While the women were away competing at West Point, the men's squad was also battling hard at the Cornell Invitational in Ithaca, NY. Sophomore Alex Markovich '10 (Brooklyn, N.Y.) led the charge for the Seawolves at Cornell claiming the Flight D singles championship which included victories over players from Cornell and UMBC.

The Seawolves jump right back into competition in the coming weeks as the men's squad will be competing in the UConn Invitational from Sept. 28-30. That same weekend we are proud to be hosting the first ever Stony Brook Classic Women's Tournament. This year's participants include Army, LIU, Southern Mississippi and the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

On October 6, we will be hosting the Stony Brook 3-way with Hofstra and St. Peter's. We would like to invite you to both of our fall events and hope that we will see you there.

As a reminder, Homecoming is on Saturday October 20 as the football team hosts Maine. We hope you will join in the festivities and visit the Athletics Department Reunion Tent to reunite with former teammates. If you plan to attend homecoming, be sure to register early by visiting our website at www.goseawolves.org.

Also, it's never too late to mark your calendars for the Stony Brook Tennis FunFest. This season's FunFest will be held on Saturday February 2, 2008 at the Eastern Athletic Club in Blue Point, NY from 6-9 p.m. and we're looking forward to another great turnout!

Take care and we'll see you on the other side of the net!

Gary Glassman
Head Men's & Women's Tennis Coach