The University of St. Francis men's tennis team has taken some big steps towards respectability in the last few seasons and now embraces new leadership as it moves forward into the 2011 spring season.

Seven-year head coach Jim Trudeau, who directed the improving fortunes of the program and put it on the brink of qualifying for the NAIA National Tournament each of the past three years, retired after the 2010 season. He continues his work as an adjunct professor teaching mathematics at USF and will still be seen at the tennis courts watching and supporting the young men he recruited to help the Saints push their program to a higher level.

A familiar face has replaced Trudeau in the head coaching position as former Saint Cole Twitchell takes over the program. Twitchell played for Trudeau and completed his career just two years ago in 2009. He remained close to the program following his graduation from USF and was a logical choice to replace his former coach when the opening occurred last fall.

Twitchell inherits a veteran team that returns all but two players from last season's 15-8 club. Gone are No. 2 and No. 3 singles players Scott Surges and Luis Oliveira, a pair of talented players. But Twitchell feels that his returning corps can help make up for the loss of those two players.

"We have a lot of guys back that played very well last year," said Twitchell. "We have a group of three seniors that are capable of leading us to a strong season as we continue to try to shorten the gap between our program and the strong program of our rival down at Olivet Nazarene."

Indeed, Olivet Nazarene has been the thorn in the Saints' side for several years. In the past three years alone, the Tigers have twice prevented the Saints from qualifying for the national tournament with season-ending wins over the Saints.

The USF senior class has four members led by three players who have gained a lot of playing time for the Saints and have the experience necessary to lead the team.

Jakub Szymanski (Bethany College, KS/Poznan, Poland), Jake Quigley (Joliet Catholic Academy/Joliet, IL) and Erick Dobrzynski (Moraine Valley C.C./Justice, IL) are the trio of veterans that Twitchell is looking to for leadership on and off the court.

Szymanski played at No. 1 singles for most of last year in his first season with the Saints following his transfer from Bethany College. He posted a 12-8 singles record and teamed with Quigley for an impressive 16-5 mark in doubles, mostly at the No. 2 slot.

"Kuba is a steady player," said Twitchell. "He has a couple of things to work on to really improve his game but they are more fine tuning than drastic changes. He played well against the best players the opponents offered last year at No. 1 and will play either at one or two this spring."

Quigley owned the best singles record on the team in 2010 with a fine 17-6 mark. He spent most of his time at the No. 4 spot and will likely move up in the lineup this spring. He also had a great year in doubles, pairing with Szymanski for most matches.

"Jake is a very talented and very athletic player," said Twitchell. "He has the size to be a very intimidating player and has improved with each season he has played for us. Hopefully, he can excel at the higher spot in the lineup this year as he will get his chance to move up and challenge for the No. 1 and No. 2 spots."

Dobrzynski split his time in 2010 between No. 5 and No. 6 singles and also played at No. 3 doubles. He owned a 10-10 singles mark and had an identical doubles record with three different partners.

"Erick is a good leader and can be a physically intimidating player," added Twitchell. "He has a bigger and stronger looking build than most tennis players and can hit the ball hard. He will again play toward the bottom of the singles lineup and could produce some good numbers for us at that position. He is a fine doubles partner and could work his way up to the No. 1 pairing this year."

The fourth senior is Matt Nosbisch (Metamora H.S./Metamora, IL). He played in one doubles match a year ago and earned his first collegiate win.

"I hope to be able to get Matt a little more playing time this year," said Twitchell. "He works hard and has improved his game."

Eddie Semik (Marian Catholic H.S./Park Forest, IL) is the lone junior on the Saints' roster. He posted a 2-1 singles mark last year and was 3-3 with a variety of doubles partners.

"Eddie will definitely get more playing time this year," said Twitchell. "He is by far the hardest worker on the team in training off the court. I expect to see him play a lot of doubles for us and he'll get the chance to play some singles as well."

Three sophomores are on the roster and one of them played a great deal as a freshman a year ago.

Andres Stecher (Pestalozzi H.S./Buenos Aires, Argentina) was 13-9 in singles last year and played anywhere from No. 3 to No. 6, with most of his matches at No. 5. He also recorded a 7-9 doubles mark and spent most of his time paired with Dobrzynski at No. 3 doubles.

"Andy is moving up in the singles lineup this year," said Twitchell, "and we are looking for him to improve as he gains more confidence in his play. He has great technique and hits very good strokes. He is a talented player and his development is a real key to our season this year."

Nikola Milenkovic (Anglo-American School of Belgrade/Belgrade, Serbia) posted 4-2 marks in both singles and doubles action in his first year at USF. He spent his time in singles at No. 5 and No. 6 and showed some potential to be a very strong player down the line at St. Francis.

"Nikola will see some playing time again this season," said Twitchell. "He has some fine tuning to do but has the ability to play very well for us. He needs to keep making progress because his potential is very strong."

Ross McCallister (Joliet Township H.S./Joliet, IL) returns for his second season on the team. He walked on a year ago.

"Ross is our PR guy," said Twitchell. "He is a great kid and really helps support our guys. He works hard to help them all get better. He has a great attitude and I hope to get him a little playing time before the season is over."

Mark Zubov (St. Petersburg H.S./St. Petersburg, Russia) and Zach Mullady (Kankakee H.S./Kankakee, IL) are the two lone freshmen on the USF roster.

Zubov is the newcomer who will have the most impact on the 2011 USF team. He will likely immediately break into the singles and doubles lineups at either No. 1 or No. 2.

"Mark is extremely talented," said Twitchell. "He has that ‘refuse to lose' attitude that you love to see in a player. We expect great things from him as a freshman.

"Zach has a great attitude and has shown improvement from day one," added Twitchell. "He will play some for us this year, primarily in doubles."

"The trip to Florida will be a good test for us," said Twitchell of the annual spring break swing through Orlando. "We'll play some very good teams down there - just like we always do - and see how we measure up to that type of competition.

"Our schedule back home is just as challenging," continued the first-year head coach. "Olivet (Nazarene) is, of course, the biggest challenge for us but we play some very good teams. We open with Western Illinois, Illinois Wesleyan and St. Ambrose and that is a tough way to start our spring season. Western is NCAA Division I. Wesleyan is a very good NCAA DIII program and St. Ambrose is one of our very good NAIA rivals that we always seem to have close matches with."

The Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference is still short of the six-team minimum to qualify as a league that earns an automatic berth into the NAIA National Tournament. That should be rectified a year from now as more CCAC schools add tennis to their sport offerings. So, for this year, the Saints not only have to compete with the likes of Olivet Nazarene but also region powerhouse Aquinas College (MI) for a spot in the national tourney field.

"Nobody told me it would be easy when I took this job," said Twitchell, "but our guys will work as hard as they can to continue to improve the program that Coach Trudeau worked so hard to build here at St. Francis. I owe a lot to Coach Trudeau. I learned a lot from him as a player and the only reason I am here coaching this team is because he prepared me for it during my time here playing for him.

"He left me a very good team and there is nothing more we would like to do than qualify for a national tourney and bring him along and thank him for making our program one that is very competitive in the NAIA."