March 22, 2007 Issue                                       

©2007 The Chestnut Hill Local

CHC tennis goes 1-1 in opening week
by TOM UTESCHER

CHC tennis coach, Albert Stroble

Junior number one Shane Lesher prevailed in a third set tiebreaker last Monday afternoon to complete a perfect season opener for the Chestnut Hill College tennis team, which swept the visiting Lions of Lincoln University, 7-0.

Two days later, it was the CHC Griffins who were on the wrong end of the broom, victims of a sweep by the visiting Blue Devils of the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia (USIP). The local racquetmen ended the week with a 1-1 mark after Friday’s snowstorm caused the postponement of a match with nearby Gwynedd Mercy College.

In NCAA Division III men’s tennis, a win in each of the six singles matches counts as one team point, while a seventh team point is awarded to the side which wins the majority of the three doubles matches. CHC took all of the singles contests and won at first and second doubles in last Monday’s encounter.

The victory marked an auspicious debut for Albert Stroble, who is the new head coach for the Griffins in addition to being Assistant to the Athletic Director at the college. He will also coach the CHC women’s tennis team, which plays during the fall season.

Originally from Williamsport, PA, Stroble played tennis at Marywood University in Scranton, then came to Philadelphia to earn a master’s degree in sport and recreation administration at Temple University.

Most recently, he was assistant athletic director and women’s tennis coach at Holy Family University in Northeast Philadelphia. In his last season with the Tigers racquetwomen, they won the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC), the conference Chestnut Hill will join when it becomes a member of NCAA Division II next fall.

Doubles play led off CHC’s match with Lincoln on Monday, and in the first pairing, Lesher teamed up with sophomore Garrett Senior to knock off Lincoln’s Antowan Graham and Tyrone Valentine in a pro set, 8-2. At second doubles, seniors Ryan Karle and Mike Devine of the Griffins won by an 8-3 count over visitors Khalif Johnson and Elwood Simon.

William Long and Rodderick Vaught gave Lincoln its only match victory of the day with their 8-4 win at third doubles over freshman Reese Brown and senior Dan Viscak of Chestnut Hill. Winning two of the three doubles bouts gave the Griffins one point towards the overall team score.

In singles competition, Karle went by Valentine, 6-1, 6-0 in the number two match, and Senior overcame Long in the third spot, 6-2, 6-1. At fourth singles, Devine won, 6-0, 6-1, over Johnson, while Griffins sophomore Kyle DeRiemer captured his fifth singles contest over Lincoln’s Vaught, 6-0, 6-2.

At sixth singles, a pair of 6-4 sets took sophomore Tony Grubisic past the Lions’ Simon, leaving the first singles players by themselves out on the courts. Lesher won a 7-3 tiebreaker to take the first set at 7-6, but Lincoln’s Graham came back to win the second round, 6-4. Due to time constraints, the pair played a ten-point tiebreaker instead of a full third set.

Early on, Lesher double-faulted twice and fell behind 1-7. He climbed back in contention by winning the next five points as Graham grew impatient and tried to force winning shots. Later, the Lincoln number one reached match point at 9-8, but hit a slam out over the baseline. Lesher moved ahead 10-9 and then clinched the win (11-9) with an overhead that Graham couldn’t return.

On Wednesday, Chestnut Hill faced USIP (the former Philadelphia Pharmacy), a Division II team and a member of the CACC. It was the spring opener for the Blue Devils, but they had gone 4-0 during an abbreviated fall season, beating Division I La Salle University in the process.

The well-established visiting side won all nine matches against a CHC squad that was still adding players to its roster over the course of last week. Devine, at fourth singles, had the closest match for the Griffins as he succumbed by a score of 6-2, 6-2, while Senior (number three) and James Stewart (number five) each lost 6-1, 6-2.