Duke Men?s Tennis Begins Fall Season at Virginia Fall Invitational

Durham, N.C. ? The Duke men's tennis will open its 2007-08 campaign this weekend when they travel to Charlottesville, Va. for the UVA Fall Invitational.

The Blue Devils squad returns seven of its nine players from the team that went 16-10 last year and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the 16th straight season. Duke finished third in the ACC standings with an 8-3 conference record.

Leading the group of returning players is 2006-07 ITA All-America selection David Goulet. A senior from Quebec, Canada, Goulet posted a 23-11 doubles record with former teammate Joey Atas to garner national honors. Goulet will enter his second season at Duke after transferring from Tulane prior to last season. In the preseason ITA doubles rankings Goulet and his teammate Dylan Arnould are ranked No. 13 nationally. Goulet is one of three seniors on the roster along with Ned Samuelson and Alex Stone.

Kiril Dimitrov, a junior from Sofia, Bulgaria, is the top singles player returning. He enters this season ranked No. 57 in the preseason singles rankings. He tied for the team lead last season with 24 singles victories and earned All-ACC recognition. He was also 10-1 in ACC doubles matches with partner Peter Rodrigues, who graduated last May. As a freshman last year, Arnould made some noise in the Blue Devils' lineup with a 21-15 record, including an 8-4 mark in ACC play. Arnould is ranked No. 109 in the ITA preseason singles rankings.

Also returning for Duke are sophomores Aaron Carpenter and David Lue. Carpenter was 15-15 overall and 5-10 in dual matches as a freshman. Lue did not play in the spring and was 3-5 during the fall competition.

The Blue Devils welcome the No. 2 recruiting class in the country as rated by tennisrecruiting.net. They add Reid Carleton, Jared Pinsky, Christopher Price and Alain Michel to the 2007-08 roster. Carleton's only loss in his final two years at Barron Collier High School in Naples, Florida came in the state championship match his junior year. He went undefeated as a senior to take the individual state title and lead his team to its second straight state championship. Pinsky, a native of Potomac, Md., is a three-time Maryland state champion and became the No. 1 ranked junior in the U.S. in March, 2006. Price was the district and regional champion his freshman year at Stratford High School in Houston Texas. He also finished third in the state championships in 2003. Michel, a Sao Paulo, Brazil native, was the Intercollegiate Tennis Tournament champion in 2004 and 2005.

Duke will once again be coached by Jay Lapidus, who enters his 18th season with the program. He has a combined 362-113 overall record and 127-16 mark in the ACC during his 17 seasons in Durham. He is a six time ACC Coach of the Year and five time ITA Regional Coach of the Year.

The Blue Devils could possibly compete in five fall tournaments including the UVA Fall Invitational (Sept. 14-16), the Southern Intercollegiates (Sept. 21-24), the ITA All-American Tournament (Oct. 4-7), the ITA Regional Qualifier (Oct. 18-22) and the ITA National Indoors (Nov. 1-4).

Duke Men?s Tennis Begins Fall Season at Virginia Fall Invitational

Players Mentioned

Dylan Arnould

Joey Atas

Reid Carleton

Aaron Carpenter

Kiril Dimitrov

David Goulet

David Lue

Alain Michel

Jared Pinsky

Christopher Price

Peter Rodrigues

Ned Samuelson

Alex Stone

Duke information

Duke Men?s Tennis Begins Fall Season at Virginia Fall Invitational

Related News

Players Mentioned

Dylan Arnould

Joey Atas

Reid Carleton

Aaron Carpenter

Kiril Dimitrov

David Goulet

David Lue

Alain Michel

Jared Pinsky

Christopher Price

Peter Rodrigues

Ned Samuelson

Alex Stone

Related Videos

Duke information