Trinity Men's Tennis Closes 2009 As No. 17-Ranked Team In The Nation
Hartford, Conn., Dec. 1, 2009 - The Trinity College men's tennis team, which has earned an NCAA Division III Championship Tournament bid in eight of the last 10 seasons, is ranked No. 5 in the Northeast Region and the No. 17 in the nation according to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Division III rankings (www.itatennis.com). Trinity junior Spencer Feldman (Upper Brookville, N.Y.) is ranked as the No. 6 singles player in the Northeast and the No. 22 singles player in the nation, while Feldman and sophomore Anson McCook (Miami, Fla.) represent the No. 2-ranked doubles team in the Northeast and the No. 7-ranked duo in the nation. The Bantams, which competed in the Middlebury College Invitational, the Bates College Invitational, and the ITA Regional Championships this fall, will return to action with a spring trip to warmer climate in March before embarking on its always-competitive New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) schedule in 2010.
Trinity, coached by Paul Assaiante (16th Season), finished the 2008-09 season with a 10-6 overall record and a 5-4 mark in the NESCAC, qualifying for the league championship tournament for the third straight season. The Bantams earned the No. 5 seed in the league tourney but lost to Bowdoin, 5-3, indoors at Williams in the NESCAC First Round. The team finished ranked No. 5 in the ITA Division III Northeast Regional Poll and No. 19 in the ITA Division III National Poll.
Feldman finished the 2008-09 season with an 11-8 record at the No. 1 singles spot. A two-time, All-NESCAC selection and both the 2008 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Northeast Region Player to Watch and a 2008 ITA Division III All-American after transferring to Trinity in 2007-08 from Division I South Carolina, Feldman qualified for the NCAA Division III Singles Championships for the second year in a row last May but dropped his opening round match in straight sets.
Feldman was 9-6 in doubles last season, while McCook, who is also ranked No. 10 in the Northeast as a singles player, was 11-6, but the tandem did not play together for a single match in 2008-09. The pair combined for a 7-2 mark this fall, and reached the finals of the doubles flights in both the Middlebury Invitational and the ITA Regional Championships. McCook was 13-5 in singles last season and 5-2 this fall, while Feldman is 30-19 in his singles career, including a 4-2 record this fall. Other top players for the Bantams include senior tri-captain Adam Lanza (Glen Cove, N.Y.), who was 7-2 in singles last spring and spent the 2009 fall campaign as a forward for the Bantam soccer team, and sophomore Charles McConnell (New York, N.Y.), who was 11-2 and an All-NESCAC honoree in doubles as a rookie.
