Dedication Leads to AMCC Dominance for Young Baron Tennis

STEUBENVILLE—After starting the season 1-1, the Franciscan University Barons tennis team finished the regular season with eight consecutive wins, including three 9-0 shutouts, on the way to its first ever Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference title.

"Even if we hadn't won conference, we would have been very pleased with the season," said AMCC Men's Tennis Coach of the Year Curtis Allen. "To accomplish what we did, with only six guys, is pretty much unheard of. I couldn't be prouder to be part of something so special."

Those six players Allen mentioned certainly were a special team. Four of the players, Leonel Lacayo, Luke Merry, Paul Jarzynka and Brian Robau, all earned First Team All-Conference honors, with Paul Jarzynka winning the AMCC Newcomer of the Year award.

"With only six guys, we all had to be on the same page with what we were trying to accomplish this year, which is the same as it is every year—trying to win conference. If we weren't on the same page, the outcome would have been much different, but I believed in my guys and they believed in me," Allen said. "We knew what we had to do and that was be dedicated to the team and to the school."

Allen also noted that the reality of his squad potentially winning the conference did not sink in until very late in the season. "It wasn't until the conference championships in Wexford [Pa.] when we were watching the results come down to the last two matches of the tournament that it hit us: we are going to win conference. It was pretty surreal. Even now to think about it, a couple weeks after it happened, it still feels like it didn't happen."

Although late in the season was when the reality set in, the dream began much earlier. As Allen recalls, he knew there was something special about his team from day one. "Not to sound arrogant, but I said [that we could win conference] to the guys before the season even started. I saw the talent out there on the court, but also how they carried themselves." The Barons had to outlast three-time defending AMCC champion Penn State Behrend and AMCC Player of the Year Elliot Blackstone in their journey to the top. 

With senior Patrick Wilmot being the only graduating senior this season, the Barons young talent will be back next season. Allen believes that they will not only be competitive, but also be the team to beat in the AMCC. "Expectations will be high both within our program and from other schools as well," Allen said. "I feel the tennis program will be very successful in years to come." Aside from Wilmot, the returning five players were all just freshman this season.

The success of the season didn't cloud Coach Allen's mind from acknowledging the other Franciscan teams' efforts and its effect on the University community. "We can't take away from what other teams here do too. All of the coaches and teams strive for the same thing, to win every game and to win conference. But, it doesn't happen every time, so when one of the teams is successful in doing that, it is special no matter what team it is; we all take part in that."