EASTON, Pa.?The Rider University men's tennis team opened the spring 2009 season with a non-conference loss at Lafayette Saturday afternoon. 

For the Broncs, senior Casey Jedlinski (Manalapan) won at first singles 6-0, 6-2.  “I just stayed inside the baseline and tried to stay in control of the match,” said Jedlinski.  “I didn't give him anything and the second I got that short ball, I was able to put it away.  I wanted him to work as hard for points as possible.”

“Casey played very well,” said head coach Ed Torres.  “He hardly made any errors and beat a very good player.”

Jedlinski was 7-2 during the fall season and including today's match has won seven straight.

“My goal is to go out with a bang,” said Jedlinski, a second semester senior.  “I had an excellent season in the fall and I worked really hard in Florida during the winter season and I worked very hard so that I could keep the winning streak going.”

“As a team, we are still getting into practice,” Torres added.  “This is the first match and we are still getting used to the indoor courts.  We've only had four or five practices but overall, they played as well as they could.  They played hard but Lafayette was just a little better.”

“It's tough to get back into form after having three months off of tennis,” Jedlinski added.  “I was able to train really hard and work on strength and tournament matches.”

Both the men's and women's teams face Queens College March 6.

-RU-