Men's tennis team continues torrid start to season

The Terrapin men's tennis program wasn't fully funded until 2005.

Not surprisingly, former coach Jim Laitta's teams had trouble competing. The Terps still struggled after gaining that advantage, however, with their best seasons coming in 2007 and 2008, when they finished 10-11.

This season, under first-year head coach Kyle Spencer, has been a completely different story.  The 2010 Terps extended their winning streak to eight matches on Sunday, defeating Delaware State and St. Mary's to improve to 12-2.

Spencer scheduled Sunday's matches after the season had started in January to fill an open date on the schedule.

"It's good to get the guys out there and together as a team," Spencer said. "These two extra matches gave them a chance to focus on the individual aspects of the game that you just can't generate at practice."

The Terps rolled over both the Hornets and the Seahawks 6-0.

Freshman Tommy Laine, whom the Intercollegiate Tennis Association ranks as the No. 122 singles player in the nation, improved to 14-0 at singles to start his career.

Laine is one of six Terps new to the program this season. Only Matt Sarrazin and Graham Knowlton remain from Laitta's regime.

Spencer hinted that the fresh faces are playing into the team's success.

"The guys have been coming out with great energy all season," Spencer said.

The Terrapin women's tennis team also has something to smile about, as they bounced back from two tough losses to No. 73 Virginia Tech and No. 27 Virginia last weekend to knock off Columbia.

The Terps improved to 3-5 this year, although they are still searching for their first conference win of the season. The Terps lost to Boston College on Feb. 13.

"It was good to win, we haven't won very much so far," first-year coach Howard Joffe said. "It's a little bit of a boost, but we recognize that we still have a ways to go."

Joffe praised the play of freshmen Burce Kurkan and Lexi Brand, who both won at singles and doubles on Saturday. Kurkan's 6-3, 6-1 victory at No. 5 singles improved her record to 5-2. Her five wins lead the team.

The Terps are now 2-0 on the year against the Ivy League, as they pummeled Penn 7-0 on Feb. 20.

Joffe also lauded his team's doubles efforts, saying that is where they have been the strongest all season.

"We have been excellent at doubles all year," Joffe said. "Even in matches where we ultimately lost the doubles point, like Virginia, it was still a dog fight."

The Terps lost just three games en route to sweeping doubles against the Lions. Kurkan and Julia Huschke took No. 3 doubles 8-0.

Joffe seemed optimistic after Saturday's win, as the team won't play again until they travel to North Carolina on March 27, since matches against Florida International and Florida Atlantic were canceled.

"Three weeks off is obviously going to hurt us competitively because we might get a little stale," Joffe said. "But we need some work, and we're going to focus our time on getting stronger.  And the only way to get stronger is through insanely hard work."

cwalsh@umdbk.com