By Nick Pipitone
The Pride men’s and women’s tennis teams entered the 2006 season with its rosters set. On paper, they looked like two formidable teams primed for competitive seasons in the tough Colonial Athletic Association.
“As a team, we had our best roster since I’ve been here,” senior Nikola Djordjevic said. “We had three seniors and we were ready to make something special out of this season.”
The men’s team featured seniors Matt Schor, Robert Sforzo, and Djordjevic. The women’s team had five seniors, with Jill Spiritus, Jillian Schalk and Erika Reggiani all being top six singles players.
Both teams were set for the season. That was until Feb. 1, when 11-year head coach Bill Gerdts unexpectedly resigned, leaving the Pride with a cloud of uncertainty that followed the team throughout the year.
“They won’t tell you themselves, but I think they carried it with them in the back of their minds,” interim head coach Mayo Hosado said. “It definitely threw them off. The practice schedule and everything else with the team remained the same, but their games were a little off and I think they were wondering why.”
Hosado, an assistant coach for Gerdts who took over after his resignation, added that the seniors on the team were anxious about graduating. She said these non-tennis factors contributed to both team’s struggles this season.
The men’s team drew a nine-seed in the CAA Championships in Newport News, Va. on April 20. They advanced to the first round of the tournament with a 4-0 win over eighth-seeded George Mason, but eventually lost to top-seeded Virginia Commonwealth 4-0 the next day.
VCU, who is ranked 12th in the nation, went on to beat Old Dominion 4-2 for the CAA Championship.
The Pride finished the season at 6-8 and 0-4 in conference play, unable to achieve its goal of drawing a higher seed in the CAAs. Many members of the team look back to its poor play in the CAA Round Robin on April 1-2 as a key factor in its low seed. Hofstra lost to James Madison, 4-3, and UNC-Wilmington, 4-1, on consecutive days.
“The losses at the Round Robin really hurt us,” Schor said. “If we beat James Madison or UNC-Wilmington, we would have been able to draw a five seed and play Georgia State. It was definitely a factor.”
With a formidable singles player in Djordjevic, the team expected better results. Djordjevic, the Pride’s top singles player, voiced his displeasure with this season’s performance.
“We played poorly [this season],” he said. “I do not think we made a major improvement over my four years here; there was not a lot of progress. I think we all really did try but we lost a lot of matches we should have won.”
Individually, Djordjevic was a bright spot for the Pride. The senior finished his collegiate career with a 24-5 record this season and a career mark of 95-23. The Serbian native won 11 of his last 12 matches to end the season and was picked first team All-CAA singles and third-team All-CAA doubles with his brother, Luka. The two were the only Pride members to be selected to an All-conference team.
The women’s team also had a tough season. They drew an 11-seed and lost in the preliminary round of the CAA Championships to No. 6 James Madison 4-0. Earlier this season, the Pride lost to JMU, 6-0, on April 1 at the CAA Round Robin. It finished the year at 5-10 and 0-5 in conference play.
“We knew James Madison was going to be hard but I think we played them better than we did earlier this season,” senior Erika Reggiani said. “It’s hard not having a coach, but I think we all managed. I’m not sure if would have really mattered [if Gerdts didn’t resign].”
For both teams, they can only wonder what could have been.
“Everything that could have went wrong this year did,” Djordjevic said.