Grizzlies restock lineup with four newcomers
6/5/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
June 5, 2014
At the same time Montana was winning the 2014 Big Sky Conference men's tennis championship and advancing to its first NCAA tournament, coach Kris Nord was also hard at work on his program's future. Given his team's numbers, it was something that had to be addressed.
His 2013-14 championship squad had five seniors, and a sixth won't be coming back in 2014-15, leaving Nord with just four returners for next season: Semion Branzburg and Tomasz Soltyka, who will be juniors, and Alex Braun and Peter Mimnagh-Fleming, who will be sophomores.
Nord filled most of those roster holes recently with the addition of four players.
Alexandr Rudenco, of Marl, Germany; Peter Szentes (CENT-ez), of Salgotarjan, Hungary; and Tom Witteveen, of San Diego, Calif.; have all signed National Letters of Intent and will join the Grizzlies as freshmen in the fall.
Zach Fisher, of Richland, Wash., has accepted admissions to Montana and will also be a freshman in the fall.
"This is new territory for us to be adding so many players, but we've seen it coming," Nord said. "And I'm actually replacing six, because Adrian Isache is not coming back."
The four newcomers give Nord eight on his 2014-15 roster. The coach will be adding a ninth player either closer to the start of the fall semester or in January.
Without a senior on next year's team, whatever Nord adds now is really a two-year commitment, because, in theory, his rosters for 2014-15 and 2015-16 should be identical.
"I'm trying to get one more, but I'm holding out for the very best kid I can get," Nord said. "Any decisions we make at this point are essentially two-year decisions. That makes that last spot, in my mind, even more crucial."
Rudenco, 6-foot-1, was born in the Republic of Moldova before moving to Germany.
"His ranking in Germany is top 70 in the 18s, which is very, very strong," Nord said. "He's a talented kid and has a solid game. He's tall and rangy, so we're going to need to get him a little stronger, but if he does that he'll be as good as he wants to be down the road."
Szentes, 5-foot-10, originally made a commitment to Montana last year, but Nord found Soltyka, a transfer from Santa Clara, and went with him as a January addition instead. Szentes, who graduated from high school a year ago, had to wait a few more months.
"I had to make a difficult call to Peter and let him know that I changed my mind, so I was really happy to hear he still wanted to come here when fall rolled around," Nord said. "He's had to back out of some tournaments this last year to remain eligible, and that was a huge sacrifice for him to do that.
"He was top 15 in Hungary in 18-and-unders and is a good all-around player. And he's off the charts academically. That's a priority for us, because you don't want the stress of tennis to be compounded by the stress of academics."
Witteveen, 6-foot-3, is a graduate of Steele Canyon High in San Diego.
"Tom, I feel, is going to be a diamond in the rough," Nord said. "He came to tennis kind of late. He was an excellent soccer player and put more of his athletic energies into that early on, when other kids were playing junior tennis. He got the tennis bug a few years ago and has since gotten after it really hard.
"He's got a big serve and moves well, and he has some weapons to go out there and win points. We need to get some strength on him to get him ready for the rigors of collegiate tennis, but once we do that, I'm really excited about his upside."
Ethan Vaughn, one of Montana's departed seniors, won the 2010 Inland Empire tennis tournament in Spokane the spring before he arrived in Missoula. Last month Fisher won the same tournament, going 5-0 while only losing eight games.
Vaughn became a first-team All-Big Sky Conference performer for the Grizzlies.
"Zach came here and met the team last fall on an unofficial visit, and I had really good feedback from the kids on the team who hit with him, so he should be another good fit for us chemistry-wise," Nord said.
"He's a good student and a really competitive kid who is going to bust his butt to get into the lineup, and that's what we want. He's going to be in the thick of things, because he's a determined kid."
By next spring's dual season, Montana will have a roster made up of more newcomers (five) than returners (four). Nord isn't giving up on the idea of repeating as Big Sky Conference champions. He just needs some time with his new team first.
"It will be a little stressful in the fall with a new team dynamic and with us being so young," he said. "We'll hopefully figure out what's going on by January.
"I think we'll be solid next year, but I wouldn't put the pressure of repeating on this group. There are just too many question marks with the new kids. But if they all work out, we could come close."
What they are saying about Montana:
Alexandr Rudenco: "I chose the University of Montana because of the great tennis program, an experienced coach and an overall successful team. I also liked the various and attractive academic offers. I am excited to meet up with my team and coach."
Peter Szentes: "I chose to play at UM because it is a great opportunity for me to receive a high-quality education and play tennis at a high level at the same time. The facilities available to the players are impressive and the campus is beautiful. It attracts me that the university is like a city within Missoula. Also, the fact that Coach Nord's players perform well both on the court and in the classroom impressed me. I am really happy to join the team and I want to be a valuable member of it."
Tom Witteveen: "I chose to play at UM because it has everything I was looking for when I thought about playing college tennis. It has a combination of good academics and a great tennis program, with a coach who cares about the team and the program. "I was attracted by the opportunity to major in art, the location and the change from Southern California, the atmosphere and feeling of the campus and town, the quality of the tennis program and the welcome given by the coach and the team. "I really liked how hard the players worked, how dedicated they were and the amount and intensity of training they did every day. They trained really hard, and the quality of the tennis is really high. I liked Kris a lot and he seemed very invested in the team and was running the program in a very impressive way."
Zach Fisher: "I decided to join Montana for a few reasons. Coach Nord really influenced my decision to go to Montana with his coaching experience as well as his personality. I feel like my tennis game will increase hugely from his coaching and from practicing with all the guys. "Also the fact that Missoula is a college town and has great alumni support made the decision even easier. I love the atmosphere on campus. Lastly, Montana has a great business school and I feel like I will really be set up for success at UM."
