At the end of July, Le Moyne announced that it would be hiring a new head coach for men’s tennis, Mark Dolan. Dolan received a bachelor’s degree from Le Moyne in 2006 and brings with him thirty years of coaching experience to the ‘Phins tennis program. He has coached at numerous other collegiate programs: the University of Hartford, Cazenovia College, Bradley University and, most recently, Hamilton College.
While at the University of Hartford, Dolan was named the America East Conference Coach of the Year in 2002, leading the team to an undefeated season and NCAA championship in the same year. While coaching at Harford, he also helped two of his players achieve the honor of being named America East Men’s and Women’s Player of the Year. In addition to his coaching experience, Dolan has also taught tennis and recently, he served as the head tennis director at the tennis club in Manlius.
After having an illustrious coaching career, Dolan comes to Le Moyne with experience and heart. Originally from Manlius, Dolan has moved back to the Syracuse area permanently, leading him to hear of the Le Moyne coaching position.
“After moving back to the area I had gotten out of coaching. I didn’t have a great experience at Hamilton and was just teaching tennis. I really wanted to get back into coaching. There are not many colleges in this area who need coaches” stated Dolan, “I have been a part of this campus on and off since [I was] nine years old, and I have coached former Le Moyne players. The position has actually been a very good fit.”
The men’s program at Le Moyne is currently undergoing a transition period, having lost five starting seniors last year. Dolan helped the program at Hartford make such a transition and hopes to use that experience to help the program at Le Moyne grow as well.
Aa Dolan explained, “Hartford had a similar program that was rebuilding. After four years of rebuilding I got them to the NCAA. I hope to use this as a blueprint to get Le Moyne there as well. It took time and recruiting to get there. Le Moyne has great academics and new athletic fields and that will become good ammo to recruit new players to compete.”
Currently, the men’s team has about nine players, with a majority of these members being brand new to the team. Regarding this number, Dolan is optimistic for what his players have in store for the season ahead.
“We had a lot of players come out last minute. We are in good shape,” said Dolan. “Some players are not real experienced. We plan to improve within this season. We are starting a new weightlifting regime and plan on improving the players that we have. Many of the returning players hadn’t started, and they are motivated and working hard. We are in a lot better shape.”
Considering the season ahead, Dolan has two main goals: to emphasize the team as a whole and to focus on each player individually.
“The first goal is to emphasize us as a team and doing everything together to make a tighter team atmosphere” Dolan added. “The second goal is to be specific with each player and make them stronger. We lost five starters, with more opportunity for more playing time. The guys have a great attitude. Our focus is long term as well as short term, with us planning on working to grow.”
The men’s team begins their season this weekend, where they face Southern New Hampshire on Saturday, Sept. 15 at 11 a.m. Saturday and St. Anselm on Sunday, Sept. 16 at 10 a.m.
