Second Serve

What a difference a year makes. Just ask men's tennis player Steve Tlumacki. Tlumacki, a senior marketing major from Holliston, MA, was a member of Assumption's men's tennis program his freshman and sophomore year on Salisbury St., after being brought in by then head coach, John Ippolito. During those first two years, Tlumacki and his teammates tore through the Northeast-10, winning the post-season tournament in 2006 and 2007 and compiling a 35-5 record over that time frame. But with Ippolito announcing his retirement following the 2007 season, Tlumacki knew the ride was coming to an end. As Ippolito left the program, other pieces began to fall as well. Seniors Matt Stopp, Dave Marshall and Dan Doenges graduated that spring, and with Ippolito gone, junior Antonio Recalde, sophomore Jared Dorffman and freshman Tom Nowak decided to leave the school as well. Tlumacki and then senior Rich Lieberman were all that was left of the team.

New head coach Luca DiFilipo was hired in August of 2007 to replace the departed Ippolito, but neither he nor anyone in the Athletic Department knew what lay ahead for the program.

"They didn't know and I didn't know," DiFilipo said. "We sent an email out at the beginning of [fall 2007], but only three guys showed up to the meeting."

Lieberman was one of the three. Tlumacki couldn't make it, but once he heard of the lack of interest, he knew things looked slim for a 2008 season.

"Rich went and he told me, and I was like 'okay there's not going to be a team'," Tlumacki said. "It was Coach's first year and he hadn't gotten the chance to recruit anyone; he didn't know what he was going to be able to work with."

Tlumacki and Lieberman were able to play when the weather was warm enough in the fall and spring, but the senior admits that there was something missing.

"Rich and I got to hit when it was nice out, but the whole winter I didn't get to play," he said. "At first I didn't mind that much because I had played so much tennis over the past few years, but then I kind of got sick of not playing."

So he waited, as did DiFilipo. The new coach spent his first year on campus recruiting, landing sophomore and current Number Two singles player Tariq Sheikh. Sheikh had played his freshman season at Methodist University, a Division-III school in North Carolina.

"I wanted to be closer to the area," Sheikh, a Longmeadow, MA, native said. "I thought it would be a good fit to come here, because Assumption was known to have a very good tennis program."

With Sheikh-who had compiled an 8-10 record at Number Two while at Methodist- in the mix, DiFilipo contacted sophomores Bobby Hurley and Jimmy Mongelo, two players who had shown interest in playing tennis for the Greyhounds last year. At the April open house, DiFilipo generated even more interest, and the foundation for a team was there. The only piece left seemed to be Tlumacki, a potential Number One singles player and the lone holdover left from the Ippolito era.

"Coming back from class one day I saw a full squad out there [on the court], so I was kind of interested in it," Tlumacki said. "A week later I was hitting one day when the team's practice was about to start and that's when Coach saw me and asked me about playing. I was already interested, so he didn't really have to sell anything to me."

Tlumacki, along with fellow senior Mike Moore, joined the team in the next few days, adding needed experience to a roster of underclassmen. Sophomores Sheikh, Hurley and Mongello, along with freshmen Kevin Forts, Jayson Gallant, Jerry Reilly and Andrew Smith rounded out the roster.

For DiFilipo, the team's reemergence this year had little to do with his coaching, but more of the individual commitment each player has made to the team.

"A lot of it is not my merit. A lot of it is other peoples' merit," he said. "Steve's decision to play for us made a really big difference, I didn't have much to do with that; it was a decision he made and we're thankful for that."

Currently, the team's record stands at 2-4, with their first home match against Saint Anselm scheduled for Wednesday. The match is an important one in terms of NE-10 standings, as the Hounds fight to earn a trip to the conference playoffs.

"This one's actually going to be a key match," DiFilipo said. " Saint Anselm, they're in the middle of the pack just like we are, they have almost the same results that we have. The winner is going to have a big advantage [down the stretch]."

Both the coach and his star player agree that the team has the talent to make the tournament, it is just a question of passion and commitment.

"It's going to take everyone to play with heart , to play with intensity and focus," DiFilipo said.

"We're going to have to really focus out there and really play their best to win their matches, these next few games are going to be really important." Tlumacki said. "Everyone's got to give it their all.