TEN QUESTIONS WITH...

You’re two singles wins away from reaching the career Top 10 in the Division I era. Already in the Top 10 are your senior teammates Nick Zieziula and Randy Rocchio. How nice would it be to join them in that club?
Nick, Randy and I came in together as freshmen and those are two of my best friends. We’ve developed a certain bond over the past four years, I can’t even describe. They came into college a lot more accomplished tennis players than I was, so to be in the same group that they are in now, it’s a great honor because I’ve worked really hard for it and they’re two really great tennis players.

While you are the No. 3 or No. 4 singles player on the squad, you have teamed up with both Zieziula and sophomore Mike Rockman to form No. 1 doubles teams this season. Do you enjoy singles or doubles better?
It’s funny because when I first came into school, I definitely enjoyed singles a lot more, but I’ve come to appreciate doubles a lot. I’d have to say I find doubles more fun. It’s a lot more fast-paced. You’re with a partner so you feel more like you’re part of a team when you’re playing doubles. I’m starting to find it a lot more fun.

Zieziula recently set a school record with his 65th career singles victory. You’ve seen him play and known him for four years now. What can you say about what he has meant to your team?
Nick has meant a lot to this team. The last four years, he’s probably been the true team captain all four years. This past year, he’s taken over some other roles as he’s transitioned into possibly becoming the assistant coach next year. He’s really held the team together, kept everybody motivated throughout all four years. He’s been a dependable player in both singles and doubles that you know is going to go out there and give it his all every single time. He’s just really been a consistent player. He cares so much about this program and how we do. Without him, I don’t know if we would have been able to accomplish what we’ve accomplished over the last four years.

Head coach Russ Crispell has had your team adopt the theme of “No Regrets” this year. What has that meant to you and your teammates as you’ve moved through the year?
As a senior, it’s meant a lot more to me. I want to finish my career knowing that I left it all out on the court and I have no regrets, that when I move on after I graduate that I know that I just gave it everything I had, that I left it all out there. I can tell people that I really did give it my all.

As a team, we had a great year last year. We had a setback when Randy went out with an injury for the entire year, but as a team, we want to make sure that we leave it all out there and try as hard as we can, even with the setback, and still perform and try to reach at least the same level that we reached last year, winning the first round of the MAC Tournament and having multiple wins within the conference. We want to make sure we at least have that. Even if we don’t achieve that, as long as we worked as hard as we could, then what else can we do?

In the past two seasons, you have served as the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Vice-President this year and as an Athletes-for-Athletes officer last year. What are some things that SAAC and AFA do for UB athletics that some people might not see?
The AFA program we started - I believe my freshman year was the first year it started - is really a great program that I don’t think people really know about. What it does is lets some of the smaller teams that don’t have a chance to have a lot of fans come to their events, for at least one event a year, all the athletes have to be there. So for at least one event a year, you feel like you’re the basketball team with thousands of fans out there. You really feel like people care so the AFA program brings a sense of caring to the smaller teams.

SAAC, in general, does a lot in the community that a lot of people don’t know about, with community service projects. We’re always trying to help out in the community and a lot doesn’t get documented. We do programs like CareWears and we go to nursing homes and retirement homes, just trying to help people out in the community.

As much as any other athlete that came here four years ago, you’ve seen UB adjust to being a member of the Mid-American Conference. You’ve gotten to watch the men’s basketball team reach the brink of the NCAA Tournament. You’ve watched Jenny Koeppel win the MAC cross country title and Jenn Brankovsky earn MAC Player of the Year honors among so many other things. How exciting has it been to be a part of UB’s athletic family as all of these remarkable things have happened?
Four years ago, I hoped to be able to say when I left that when I was here, this program really was able to build itself. I hoped to one day to be able to see 4,000 or 5,000 fans in UB’s arena to see a basketball game. I’m just so proud to be a part of the four years that really have brought UB athletics to the next level. I think it’s going to be up from here. I worked hard to help the tennis team develop and it’s just nice to see my whole entire class that is graduating now was a part of this. Buffalo is going to become huge and we were all a part of it. It’s a really great feeling.

In high school, you were a three-time New York City public schools doubles champion and you also became the all-time leader in doubles wins. How did some of your doubles partners in high school help you prepare for college tennis?
Our team was one of the better teams in the state, city and country, actually. We were nationally-ranked as a high school tennis team. Unfortunately, I never got a chance to play singles, which was why I always had to play doubles. I was switching partners all the time. A couple of the partners that I had played at Indiana. One who plays now is a freshman at Binghamton, Alex Dobrin. He’s a great player.

I had to adapt to all different types of players, all different types of games while I was playing doubles, something that I was able to carry over to UB where coach has had me play with different players who have different styles. Nick Zieziula is an attacker and Mike Rockman likes to stay back. I’ve had to adapt to different partners and adjust my style of game. My high school definitely helped me transition into college.

When Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi first came on the scene in the early ‘90s, commentators said tennis was a game that would always be dominated by young men in their early 20s. To see Agassi still ranked 10th in the world some 15 years later as he approaches 35 years old, is that at all surprising to you?
It’s not surprising at all because he is one of the hardest-working players on the tour and in probably better shape than most of the people that are in their 20s. I believe that there’s no reason why you’d become less of an athlete as you get older. You see so many other sports where there’s players in their 40s still playing. I don’t think age has anything to do with it. I think it has to do with how well you keep up with your body. It just takes more time and longer hours in the weight room if you’re older to make your body like a 20-year-olds, but there’s no reason you can’t work just as hard to keep your body in shape and still produce wins like Agassi does.

You were recently accepted into the International Business School at Brandeis University for your post-graduate degree. How do you think being an athlete throughout college has helped you and prepared you to take on the next step, in this case, an internationally-renowned graduate program?
Being a student-athlete, I think, is one of the hardest things you can do while you’re in college. You have time demands with practice, traveling and having to do your school work. It’s almost like you have two full-time jobs while you’re in school. I remember my high school coach once said that his son was going off into the world and he had played tennis at Indiana. They asked him if he could handle long hours and he said, ‘Of course I can, I’ve been doing it for 14, 15 years.’ I’ve been playing tennis since I was four, but it’s kept me motivated, it’s kept me focused on my goals and it’s helped me remarkably in my academics.

What has been your favorite moment as a UB athlete?
My favorite moment as a UB athlete happened last year when we won the first round of our conference tournament. It was something that we worked for since our freshman year and was one of our goals forever. To actually beat another team in our conference besides IPFW, which isn’t a full MAC member, but Toledo. We beat them twice that year. The first time it was without their full lineup, but the second time we beat them with their full lineup. We had some huge wins in that match. It was just one of the greatest feelings to stay there and actually make the tournament and not have to go home early.

“The 10 Questions With…” feature is compiled by Joe Guistina.