WILMINGTON, N.C. - The UNCW men's tennis team finds itself in a different position on the eve of the 2010 Colonial Athletic Association Men's Tennis Championships. The defending CAA champions will not be sneaking up on anybody on this trip to the conference tournament.
Coach Mait DuBois and the Seahawks, who stunned defending champion VCU, 4-3, in last year's finals, enter the CAA's as the No. 3 seed this year. A pair of one-point decisions with No. 1 VCU and No. 2 Old Dominion during the regular season leaves this week's CAA affair is wide open.
"This team has only lost one CAA match in the last two years," said DuBois. "Our players know what it takes to be successful. Our players are very committed to one another. We have a lot of veteran players and our freshmen have really come along quickly. The key for us is just to stay focused and compete at the level we like to play."
The Seahawks, at 66th the highest ranked team in the CAA by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, carry a 14-5 record into this week's tourney at ODU's Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center. DuBois and his club have won four straight matches and seven of their last eight outings.
"I'm very pleased that we seem to be playing our best tennis at the end of the season. That's been a trademark of our teams here."
UNCW, 2-4 against ranked teams this spring, is coming off a 6-1 thumping of rival East Carolina that saw the Seahawks dominated their rivals from the start.
DuBois said, "Our match against East Carolina was the best we have competed as a team from top to bottom. We have had to work our way through some different health issues this spring, and we've had several players do a great job of stepping up to the challenge.
"I think we're a better team after facing some adversity. Our guys feel confident playing in any number of positions. The fact that we're now at full strength gives our group a lot of confidence."
That may not be good news for the remainder of the circuit. UNCW has built a 72-41 (.637) record in singles and racked up a spectacular 42-13 (.764) scoreboard on the doubles side.
Newcomer Kosta Blank is one of the team's hottest players. The Kfar Sava Israel, product has won eight of his last 10 matches and owns a 14-4 record in singles. He was the CAA's Co-Player of the Week during the week of March 7.
In doubles, the Seahawks have had four tandems honored by the league during the course of the spring, reversing a trend from last year.
UNCW was one of six schools that picked up a first-round bye. The Seahawks take on James Madison at 9 a.m. on Friday in one of four quarterfinal matches. That may set the stage for a rematch against the Rams, who battle the winner of a first-round pairing between Delaware and Hofstra.
