The Wolfpacker

84 ■ THE WOLFPACKER BY MATT CARTER T his was a bit of a complicated fall for veteran men's tennis coach Jon Choboy. He was already tasked with replacing three crucial seniors from last year's squad, but Choboy also did not have his full roster on campus to train due to various reasons. Senior Thomas Weigel, who went a team-best 25-11 in singles action last year and won nine of his last 10 matches in the spring, was far enough ahead in his academics to spend the fall playing tennis full-time. The native of Germany returns to Raleigh for the spring and will finish his work toward his degree in May. Also joining the mix in the spring will be the Saveljic twins from Montenegro — Igor and Ivan. The two freshmen compete in Davis Cup action for their native country and are expected to make an instant impact when they arrive. However, without them and Weigel on campus in the fall, Choboy had to work with just seven players on campus. "Actually, in a lot of ways, it was a posi- tive because we got to spend more train- ing time and helping those guys, and pay- ing more attention to a smaller number," Choboy noted. "The downside is for the players — as the fall goes along, the variety of who you see in practice and different game styles there is not as much as that with fewer players." One of Choboy's focal points with the guys he did have this fall was to establish new leaders to replace the three seniors — Beck Bond, Robbie Mudge and Austin Powell — that graduated off last year's team which reached the NCAA Tourna- ment. All three left their marks on NC State. Mudge (sixth with 82) and Powell (third with 91) rank among the top 10 all time in career singles victories. Mudge was a three-time All-ACC pick, Powell twice and Bond last year. Choboy noted that their im- pact was not only felt in their performance, however. "We lost three pretty strong leaders in the seniors that we lost," Choboy said. "We are trying to fill that void and have some leaders step into those roles. I think we are making some good headway with that. "That was really one of the main things we were trying to fill out in the fall." Junior Nick Horton stepped up to the task, according to Choboy. Rather than return to his native Australia for the sum- mer, Horton spent it competing in France, Germany and Spain. "He really had a good summer and it has carried over into the fall," Choboy said. "He really began to focus on all the de- tails for himself personally and then really ■ PREVIEW MEN'S TENNIS Reload Year The Wolfpack Will Try To Jell Quickly When Its Full Roster Comes Together Senior Thomas Weigel went a team-best 25-11 in singles last season and spent the fall competing in tennis full-time. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE MEDIA RELATIONS

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