Katie Reing
At the beginning of the season, the men’s tennis team had four players on the roster. Led by junior captain Scott Giblin, the team’s only other support was from two freshmen, Mike Sofia and John Lobb and junior Tyler Duffy.
After sophomores Jim Diamond, Lenny Yacona and Nick Fenton, freshman Phanaro Thatch and junior Justin Christian joined the team, the team found itself undefeated in the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference with a record of 5-0.
“We started off the season with a totally different team than we have now,” said Giblin. “We only had four definite players. Once we talked to some other guys, they joined too. Justin lives next door to me so I talked to him and Lenny decided to play this year after Jim was in. It turned out pretty well.”
“I used to be pretty good at tennis,” said Diamond. “It took a while this year. At first, I was pretty bad. But I’ve been improving and I enjoy the game more now. I’m really happy I played.”
While the rest of the team was improving, Giblin continued to carry the team. Giblin finished the season undefeated in the PAC, 7-0, and 10-2 overall. Led by Giblin’s outstanding play and the team’s expansion, the team marched through the regular season dominating PAC opponents and landed itself a spot in the PAC championship game against Arcadia. The team returned to the championship looking to repeat last year’s winning performance. Giblin feels it was a pleasant surprise to make it that far.
“I was really happy to make it that far. Everyone really improved from the beginning and they held their own out there,” said Giblin. “I wasn’t sure how far we were going to go, but we finished undefeated and once we got to the final game against Arcadia, I definitely wanted to win it all.”
Giblin did his best in the final showdown winning all of his matches. However, the team was slightly edged by the also undefeated Arcadia team. Cabrini lost 4-3 in a tight battle but does not feel sorry about the second place finish.
“I think we had a great year. Early in the season, we knew we could win some big ones, but you can’t predict the future. We didn’t know we were going back to the PAC championship game. It’s too bad we didn’t win it this year, but we did our best and that’s all that coach asks for,” said Diamond.
So last year the team won the PAC championship and this year it was undefeated in the regular season and finished second in the PAC championship game. What is in store for next year?
“For next year, we aren’t really losing anyone. If the guys come back out and improve over the next year, we should be set,” said Giblin. “We are supposed to be getting a few freshmen on the team so that will definitely help. If everyone keeps playing, we should be awesome next year.”
With a strong finish this season and high hopes for next year the men’s tennis team continues to grow on its path in a winning direction.
