WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes University men's tennis team is set to start its 2024 spring season on Saturday, February 2 as the Colonels transition into the Landmark Conference under the direction of head coach Todd Kane, now in his third season.

"The depth is just there, where in year's past you knew matches you could win, we're not getting that much in the Landmark," Kane said. "I think everything is going to be a battle, so we have to be a little bit better from top to bottom and luckily I think we are this year."

The Colonels rebuild the roster with five first-year student-athletes to join the six returning members of the program. Wilkes was 1-10 overall and 1-6 during its final season in the Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom.

First years Nick Cirelli (West Pittston, PA/Wyoming Area), Angelo Guzman (Port Jefferson Station, NY/Comsewogue), Cole Riley (Louisville, KY/Xavier), Sebastian Sylvester (Diego Martin, Trinidad and Tobago/The College of Lady Fatima), and William Wolfgang (Mountain Top, PA/Holy Redeemer) join the team for their first season of collegiate tennis. Guzman is going to play at the top of the lineup while Riley and Sylvester came in and are playing at a high level.

"They are about tennis, they are about grinding, and they just want to get better and better," Kane said of the recruiting class. "If every year we can bring in guys like these guys it is going to be amazing."

Juniors Nathanial Rathe (Lincoln, NE/Lincoln Southeast) and Connor Frey (Binghamton, NY/Chenango Valley) return and bring a lot of on-court experience and leadership to the group this season as the team captains.

"They get the guys out there to work out, they do things in the offseason, they are very motivated to be better and they are so excited that the team is much improved," Kane said of Rathe and Frey.

Seniors Drew Fiedler (Stroudsburg, PA/Stroudsburg), Jonah Nguyen (Enola, PA/East Pennsboro Area), Ian Williams (West Wyoming, PA/Wyoming Area), and Donovan Zong (Bethlehem, PA/Salisbury Township) round out the roster for Wilkes.

In the fall the Colonels saw Guzman and Rathe compete in singles action at the ITA Southeast Regional as well as teaming in doubles along with a second doubles team of Riley and Sylvester.

Wilkes then played its inaugural Landmark Conference match at Susquehanna University on October 21, winning 8-1. Rathe and Frey won No. 1 doubles 8-4, Guzman and Wolfgang took No. 2 doubles 8-7 (7-5), and Nguyen and Sylvester won No. 3 doubles 8-6. In singles action, Guzman won at No. 1 by a 6-1, 6-0 score, Rathe took No. 2 singles 6-5, 7-5, Sylvester won No. 3 singles 6-0, 6-0, Wolfgang was a 6-4, 6-7 (8-10), 10-8 winner at No. 5, and Frey won No. 6 singles 8-3.

The Colonels will begin the spring season with six non-conference matches at TK Academy in February beginning with Division II Bloomsburg University on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. Wilkes also faces Division I Lafayette College on Saturday, February 24.

"For us it gives our guys something to shoot for and I think they really enjoy having them on the schedule," Kane said of the team playing competition above the Division III level. "And then when we get back into our D III it should make some of those matches a little bit easier."

Wilkes gets back into conference play on March 23rd against Goucher College at the Ralston Athletic Complex and then host Catholic University on March 24th. The rest of the Landmark schedule consists of a date at Lycoming College on April 3rd, home against Juniata on April 6th, followed by two road tests at the University of Scranton on April 11th and Elizabethtown College on April 13th. The Colonels close the regular season schedule with home matches against Moravian University on April 20th and Drew University on April 24th.