Photo by: Red Box Pictures
Young Huskies Look For Continued Improvement in 2019-20
October 23, 2019 | Men's Tennis
The University of Washington men's tennis team kicks of the 2019-20 campaign this weekend at the ITA Northwest Regionals and the Huskies will have a lot of new faces! With five returners and five new players, Head Coach Matt Anger looks to build the Huskies back into perennial contenders.
With just one senior and two juniors on the 10-man squad, the 2019 Huskies are young.
"Most years, I am eager to get started. However, I think it is more true this year than any other," said Anger. "We knew we were rebuilding last year and our guys made incredible progress from the beginning of the season to the end of the year and I wanted to get started so that we could keep that progression going. We have a much better starting point and are taking extra time this fall to make some needed changes in our games."
The UW juniors are both returners in Jack Davis and Alexis Alvarez. Davis was 11-14 last year, splitting time between No. 2 and 3 in singles play while Alvarez missed much of the year due to injury.
Sophomore Ewen Lumsden will also be among the top spots in the lineup after posting a 14-10 record including a 7-3 mark at the No. 5 position. Also back are sophomores Kasper Smith and Adam Toroscik who are both expected to make big contributions this year.
"Jack and Ewen are both looking to start high in the line-up," said Anger. "Both of them should play high in both singles and doubles. Adam and Kap are both back and have definitely made strides from where they were a year ago. Alexis missed last year with a back injury and is starting back slowly this fall. Hopefully, he will get some action this fall to be ready for the spring."
Among the five newcomers are a pair of transfers in Thibault Cancel, a senior who transferred in from Alabama, and Jack Pulliam who played one season at Texas A&M before transferring to UW.
"Thibault is definitely unique in that he will be a senior with one year of eligibility for us," said Anger. "We played against him when he was a freshman at Alabama and he was very talented. He obviously has experience but is excited to get as much out of this year as possible. I expect him to be in our singles and doubles line-up right away."
"Jack is from Southern California and hasn't let up since he got here," said Anger. "He is pushing himself each and every day of practice. Opponents will have to be ready to work for a long time to defeat him."
A trio of freshman round out the Husky squad. Brandon Wong joins the UW team from Mercer Island where he was one of the highest-rated seniors in last season's class. He is a five-star recruit and was the top ranked player in the state of Washington as well as the northwest region.
"Brandon is someone that I have seen for a long time since he is from Mercer Island," said Anger. "He has an incredible upside and he is serving bigger, moving better and getting more on the ball than I thought when I recruited him. He should be helping us this year."
Stevie Gould is another talented freshman, who comes to Montlake from Corte Madera, Calif. Gould is a five-star recruit according to TennisRecruiting.net and was ranked as the 32nd-best recruit in the nation.
"Stevie Gould is physically strong like an upperclassmen," said Anger. "His weapons and lefty game give him a really good upside here at Washington. He hopes to follow in our long line of successful left-handers here at UW."
The other Husky freshman is somewhat familiar to UW tennis fans. Kailuhia "Hia" Lam, who comes to UW from Honolulu, Hawaii, is the second ranked player out of the state of Hawaii and a relative of the program.
"Hia is the younger brother of Kawika Lam who graduated this past season from Washington," said Anger. "Hia's strength is in doubles and he will contribute there quickly."
Anger enters his 26th year at the helm for the Huskies
"The time has flown by," he said, reminiscing on the last 25 seasons of coaching at UW. "A lot has changed and a lot has remained the same. Our facilities have improved and certain things in college tennis have changed, but the game has remained the same. While we may see that kids spend time more with tech, their lives still revolve around the same things whether it is their relationships, family, academics or their tennis game.
"I have a lot of great memories, but there a few that stand out," he added. "The first time we reached the Sweet 16 at the NCAA's in 2001; the first time we reached the quarterfinals at the ITA National Team Indoors in 1999 and when we won the conference title in 2005. Unfortunately, I also remember some matches that were heartbreakers!"
As for this season: "I feel like we started over last year and this process of working our way back up in college tennis reminds me of when I started here, and it is a blast."
With just one senior and two juniors on the 10-man squad, the 2019 Huskies are young.
"Most years, I am eager to get started. However, I think it is more true this year than any other," said Anger. "We knew we were rebuilding last year and our guys made incredible progress from the beginning of the season to the end of the year and I wanted to get started so that we could keep that progression going. We have a much better starting point and are taking extra time this fall to make some needed changes in our games."
The UW juniors are both returners in Jack Davis and Alexis Alvarez. Davis was 11-14 last year, splitting time between No. 2 and 3 in singles play while Alvarez missed much of the year due to injury.
Sophomore Ewen Lumsden will also be among the top spots in the lineup after posting a 14-10 record including a 7-3 mark at the No. 5 position. Also back are sophomores Kasper Smith and Adam Toroscik who are both expected to make big contributions this year.
"Jack and Ewen are both looking to start high in the line-up," said Anger. "Both of them should play high in both singles and doubles. Adam and Kap are both back and have definitely made strides from where they were a year ago. Alexis missed last year with a back injury and is starting back slowly this fall. Hopefully, he will get some action this fall to be ready for the spring."
Among the five newcomers are a pair of transfers in Thibault Cancel, a senior who transferred in from Alabama, and Jack Pulliam who played one season at Texas A&M before transferring to UW.
"Thibault is definitely unique in that he will be a senior with one year of eligibility for us," said Anger. "We played against him when he was a freshman at Alabama and he was very talented. He obviously has experience but is excited to get as much out of this year as possible. I expect him to be in our singles and doubles line-up right away."
"Jack is from Southern California and hasn't let up since he got here," said Anger. "He is pushing himself each and every day of practice. Opponents will have to be ready to work for a long time to defeat him."
A trio of freshman round out the Husky squad. Brandon Wong joins the UW team from Mercer Island where he was one of the highest-rated seniors in last season's class. He is a five-star recruit and was the top ranked player in the state of Washington as well as the northwest region.
"Brandon is someone that I have seen for a long time since he is from Mercer Island," said Anger. "He has an incredible upside and he is serving bigger, moving better and getting more on the ball than I thought when I recruited him. He should be helping us this year."
Stevie Gould is another talented freshman, who comes to Montlake from Corte Madera, Calif. Gould is a five-star recruit according to TennisRecruiting.net and was ranked as the 32nd-best recruit in the nation.
"Stevie Gould is physically strong like an upperclassmen," said Anger. "His weapons and lefty game give him a really good upside here at Washington. He hopes to follow in our long line of successful left-handers here at UW."
The other Husky freshman is somewhat familiar to UW tennis fans. Kailuhia "Hia" Lam, who comes to UW from Honolulu, Hawaii, is the second ranked player out of the state of Hawaii and a relative of the program.
"Hia is the younger brother of Kawika Lam who graduated this past season from Washington," said Anger. "Hia's strength is in doubles and he will contribute there quickly."
Anger enters his 26th year at the helm for the Huskies
"The time has flown by," he said, reminiscing on the last 25 seasons of coaching at UW. "A lot has changed and a lot has remained the same. Our facilities have improved and certain things in college tennis have changed, but the game has remained the same. While we may see that kids spend time more with tech, their lives still revolve around the same things whether it is their relationships, family, academics or their tennis game.
"I have a lot of great memories, but there a few that stand out," he added. "The first time we reached the Sweet 16 at the NCAA's in 2001; the first time we reached the quarterfinals at the ITA National Team Indoors in 1999 and when we won the conference title in 2005. Unfortunately, I also remember some matches that were heartbreakers!"
As for this season: "I feel like we started over last year and this process of working our way back up in college tennis reminds me of when I started here, and it is a blast."
Players Mentioned
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