TRIUMPH FOR TENNIS

Last year in late September, the UConn men's tennis team did not lose a set en route to a 7-0 victory over the University of Siena Saints. Last Wednesday afternoon, in the team's fall home opener against Siena, the story was much of the same.

The Huskies rolled over Siena, finishing with a 6-1 victory over the hapless Saints.

"We did pretty well," said head coach Glenn Marshall. "Overall, it was a pretty good performance. At these kinds of matches in the fall, we like to change the lineups around. It's all about experimenting… We could be a pretty good team together if we keep things up like this."

The Huskies, led by senior captain Scott Warden and his partner, Teddy Margules, in the No. 1 spot, started things off by taking the doubles. Warden and Margules won their match 8-3 over Siena's Peter Collins and Alex Burbine.

"Our doubles did well. Warden and Margules were at one and they came out real strong and got the win for us," Marshall said.

Also helping to secure the doubles point for UConn was the combination of junior Wei Lin and senior Jai Yoon, who dominated their match 8-1. The freshmen duo of Jacob Spreyer and Peter Surovic concluded doubles play with an 8-7 loss, although Marshall was happy with what he saw out of the youngsters.

"At these kind of matches in the fall, I'm looking at my freshmen and younger guys the most," Marshall said. "These are the times when we get our young guys basically used to the world of collegiate tennis and we get to see how they perform out there."

The Huskies went on to dominate singles play, led by Warden's 6-2, 6-2 victory over Siena's Dylan Roberts and ending with a dramatic 11-9 tiebreaker win for Margules. With the exception of Yoon's 7-5, 6-3 loss to Siena's Collins, the rest of the Huskies proved victorious -- Lin took his match 6-4, 6-0, Surovic 6-3, 6-2 and Spreyer won 6-1, 6-1.

"Today, we were really looking to see how everyone does in match play and so far we've been seeing some really good things," said assistant coach Dan Gal.

After the team's most recent win, the coaching staff said they're pleased with what they have been seeing out of the team so far this season.

"We've been getting some good solid matches in so far, and we're really just trying to figure out what our niche is going to be for this season," Gal said.

The Huskies, after their win Wednesday, are already looking forward to their next competition – the UConn Invitational.

"Like after all matches now we just have to review, reflect, and then get it all going again," Gal said. "We're going to have a lot of good competition this weekend. A couple good Connecticut schools as well as Bryant [Rhode Island] and Boston University, among others, are making the trip."

The Huskies' victory over Siena has provided some added confidence as they prepare to host the six-team tournament this weekend.

"Things are definitely looking good for this weekend, I just wish the weather was looking better," Marshall joked. "This whole fall season is all about match play, and we're going to get some more of that against good competition this weekend."

Whether it takes place at the UConn Tennis Courts in Storrs or at the team's indoor courts in East Hartford due to the weekend's impending rain, the UConn Invitational will begin this Friday and continue throughout the weekend.