History of the Rams
This is a brief history of the Rams' tennis team since I became coach in 1999. The Rams won the Class "C" title in 1998 and moved up to Class "B" my first year of coaching them. It became the team goal to be successful in Class "B" so that the team could move up to Class "A" competition. LaSalle won the Class B title in 1999 and was a finalist in 2000. LaSalle moved up to Class A in 2001. In 2005 LaSalle won the Division 1 (North) Title with a 9-5 conference record. The Rams lost 5 seniors in 2007 and are still trying to rebuild the team. 2010 looks encouraging becuase a number of new experienced players have chosen to attend La Salle and will be coming out for the tennis team.
Rams won / lost record under Coach Haley 1999 - 2010.
|
Year
|
Division
|
Won |
Lost |
| 2010 |
1 |
6 |
9 |
| 2009 |
1 |
4 |
12 |
| 2008 |
1 |
1 |
13 |
|
2007
|
1
|
6
|
10
|
|
2006
|
1
|
7
|
9
|
| 2005 |
1
|
11
|
5
|
|
2004
|
1
|
9
|
10
|
|
2003
|
1
|
8
|
8
|
|
2002
|
1
|
11
|
8
|
|
2001
|
1
|
10
|
8
|
|
2000
|
2
|
15
|
2
|
|
1999
|
2
|
14
|
3
|
|
Total
|
|
97
|
72
|
2009
The team improved modestly over the 2008 season. Our record improved form 1-13 to 4-12. The team made it to the playoffs with an exciting win over North Kingstown in a special playoff match.
2008
The Rams could not recover from losing 5 seniors the previous year. 4 of these seniors played the singles. The season was a long and gloomy. The Rams final record was 1-13
2007
The season was a little disappointing. Although we did not expect to content for the title, we should have at least achieved a 500 season. Unfortunately, the boys played very erratic tennis. This was evident by two great wins over Wheeler and subsequent defeats by Mt.St. Charles and North Kingston, teams that did not make the playoffs. On the bright side Peter Meckel played outstanding tennis and was ranked the 3rd. best player in the state. Peter was also named to both 1st. Team All-Division and 1st. Team All-State. Kris Brown was named to 2nd. Team All-State and Cal Sowa was given the team Sportsmanship award
2006
2006 proved to be a disappointing year for the Rams. The team started off in a positive fashion winning their first four matches (league and non-league). However as they engaged the stronger teams their confidence seemed to slip and sometimes their passion to play. Playing in Division 1 is a difficult challenge for a team that only has a handful of year around player. Hopefully the Rams players will practice and play more during the off-season so that next year will be a more successful.
2005
LaSalle won the Division 1 (North) title with a 9-5 Division record. LaSalle was 11-5 overall. LaSalle accomplished this feat despite the fact that the team had only 10 players. The singles players contributed significantly to the team's success. Jared Dorfman was undefeated at #1 singles. Peter Meckel lost only 1 match and Cooper Newbold and Kris Brown only lost a few matches. LaSalle's doubles teams were not strong enough to compete against the teams from Hendricken and South Kingstown. LaSalle lost in the SF of the State Championships to a great team from South Kingstown. South Kingstown went on to win the State Championship Title. Individual accomplishments included Jared Dorfman’s selection as the #1 high school player and Jared's runner-up finish in the individual State Championships. Peter Meckel and Jared were named to 1st. Team All-State. Cooper Newbold and the doubles team of Matt Blais and Mitchell Belhumeur were selected for 2nd.Team All-Division.
2004
LaSalle finished in 5th place in Class A with a 7-9 record. Overall LaSalle was 9-10 for the season. Highlights of the season included Jared Dorfman's winning of the State Singles Championship and Scott Lombardo's top 8 finish in the same tournament. Although it was thought that this year would be a better year for the Rams than 2003, the team inability to win at doubles was its achilles' heel. 2004 became a building year rather than a year of continued accomplishment.
2003
LaSalle finished in 5th. place in Class A with a 8-8 record. Overall LaSalle was 8-9 for the season. The Rams lost to Mt.St. Charles in the first round of the State Championship tournament. Highlighs for the year included Jared Dorfman's making it to the finals of the State Singles Tournament. The team was also able to keep itself at .500 despite having lost 7 players due to graduations and transfers out of the school.
2002
LaSalle finished in fourth place in Class A. The team lost in the semi-finals to a tough South Kingstown team that won the title. The team's overall record for 2002 was 11-8. Jared Dorfman made it to the semi-finals of the State Individual Championships.
2001
2001 was a transitional year for the La Salle Boy’s Tennis Team. After two successful seasons in Class B, La Salle moved its tennis program into Class A. La Salle won the Class B State Championship in 1999 and was a finalist for the State Championship in 2000. Despite the problems associated with finding courts to practice on in the pre-season, the La Salle team weathered the difficulties and produced a winning season. The team finished the season with a 10-6 record in Divisional play and a 10-7 overall record including the playoffs. LaSalle finished in 3rd place in Class A North.
Other Season Highlights:
· Winning the Junior Varsity Doubles tournament: Tim Appleman and Scott Lombardo.
· Mike Garnett made it to the round of 8 at the Boy’s Singles Championships to earned All-State First Team honors.
· Nick Appleman and Andrew Jagger made it to the finals of the State Doubles Tournament and were selected First Team All-State.
2000
LaSalle finished the 2000 season with a 14-2 record. LaSalle won the Class B North Division title and made it to the State Championship title match. LaSalle lost the title match to a great Cumberland team.
1999
LaSalle won both the Class B North Divisional title and the State Class B title. LaSalle's record was 14-3. This was LaSalle's first year in Class B. It had won the Class C title in 1998.
2010
The Rams improved their record to 6-9 from 4-12 the previous year. The team was again erratic in its performance. The team, however, did post three great wins against quality schools. These wins were against Wheeler, Mt.St. Charles, and North Kingston. Andrew Olson was named to 2nd. Team All-Division and 2nd. Team All-State. Ryan Underwoond received the team Sportsmanship award for the second straight year.
