Explorers end season—Men's tennis finishes year with 5-11 record

By Frank Visco
Collegian Editor
April 5, 2006

Although only a freshman, Chris Butera has begun to emerge as a dominant force for the men’s tennis team during its spring season. The most recent example of this is that, while the team went 1-2 overall during the past week, Butera put up impressive individual numbers, winning all three of his singles matches.

“He’s playing great right now,” co-head coach Ed Colfer said. “In the fall he was getting accustomed to tennis at the collegiate level, and then he worked really hard over the winter break. As a result, it’s all coming together for him so far this spring.”

Butera kicked off his strong week in a 6-1 thrashing courtesy of the Temple Owls on Thursday, March 30. Although the Owls dominated the contest, Butera helped the Explorers avoid a shutout by posting the team’s lone triumph – a 6-4, 3-1, default victory over Zach Tobias.

On Saturday, April 1, Butera continued to play well, posting a strong 6-0, 6-1 victory over West Chester’s Mike Mulholland; however, this time the rest of his team joined him, as the Explorers annihilated West Chester 7-0.

Along with Butera, senior Marco Onorato (6-1, 6-2), junior Ross Flockerzie (6-3, 6-4) and sophomore Eric Glick (6-0, 6-1) all posted strong two-set victories. Meanwhile, junior Scott Karwowski (6-4, 5-7, 10-6) and freshman Justin Feiner (6-1,3-6, 11-9) were each forced to a third set, but both managed to come out on the winning end of things.

After being dominated on Thursday, and then dominating on Saturday, the team fittingly played in a nail-biter against the Morgan State Bears on Sunday, April 2. Sadly, the team wound up on the short end of a tight 4-3 decision.

The teams split the singles matches evenly, as each side walked away with three. Onorato (6-1, 6-4), Glick (6-1, 6-1) and Butera (6-2, 6-2) proved victorious out of the one, four and five spots, respectively. However, Flockerzie (6-1, 6-2), Karwowski (6-1, 6-4) and sophomore Corey Hansen (6-0, 6-3) all lost their games.

As a result, the contest came down to who performed better in the doubles matches. Although each of the doubles partners put up a fight, all three tandems wound up losing their matches, 8-5.

“Most of our guys don’t have that much experience with doubles because they never competed in them in high school,” Colfer said. “However, it’s a big part of the game in college, and so they have to work on getting more accustomed to it.”

The team (5-11) wrapped up its regular season schedule last night against the Drexel Dragons; however, the game ended too late to be included in this issue. It will next see action at the Atlantic 10 Championships on Friday, April 7.

“The team’s playing well, but it’s going to be tough,” Colfer said. “We have to go out there and play our game without being awed by the other teams. If we do that, we will hopefully come away with something good.”

As the season draws to a close, the team is preparing to bid farewell to Onorato, the team’s lone senior. According to Colfer, his loss will be felt by the team.

“He’s played very well out of the number one position and is a great asset to us,” Colfer said. “He has really improved in his four years at La Salle.”

Reflecting on his time at La Salle, Onorato also shared his thoughts.

“I feel that I have gained a lot through my four years here, and I have worked hard to be the best. Coming in my freshman year, I played at the number-four position, and over the past two years I have moved to number-one... The competition is much tougher at the top, but I think that is what led to my improvement over the years.

“I’m going to miss the competition with my teammates more than anything. I still will be playing at a competitive level after college, in men’s tournaments and leagues at the National Level, but these four years have been a fun experience, and it’s not something I will have the opportunity to do again.”

When asked if he thinks Onorato will be emotional at the Atlantic 10 Championship, which will be his last collegiate competition, Colfer offered a negative: “No, he’s a warrior. He’ll go out and play hard until the very end.”

viscof1@lasalle.edu