By FROST HUBBARD
Staff Writer
 

While the `Cats took their lumps last year, they have looked impressive in the invitationals attended thus far this year, despite competing without Klein. Klein was sidelined by a severely sprained ankle early in the season. He was anxious to return to action and hoped coach Gastonguay would give him the green light to make his triumphant return this weekend in front of a home crowd. However, Gastonguay is looking more towards the important team oriented matches in the spring. "We're going to hold him back to make sure he's healthy for the spring. A reinjury of the ankle could set him back a couple of months," Gastonguay said.

About the team, Klein said, "Last year did not go as well as we had hoped, but this year has looked much better. We've improved greatly from last year."

Because of Gastonguay's recruiting, there are only praises for the talented first-year class. All of the new additions to the team have made their presence felt. Milko Todorev, Mike Kerrigan, and Greg Norton have distinguished themselves as players to watch. Kerrigan reached the finals of his C flight bracket in completion a few weeks back.

This first-year class is one of the reasons we are much improved from last year. They are a good, solid class," Klein said. At #2 singles is Pete Dalrymple '00, followed by first-year Milko Todorev, Dave Carlson '00, John Tucker '00, Mike Kerrigan '01 and another first-year, Greg Norton.

"We've gotten good experience out of not having him [Klein]. Our younger guys have had to play under a little more pressure with everyone bumped up a spot. But we've improved because of it," Gastonguay said.

The 'Cats top doubles team is the first year duo of Todorev and Kerrigan followed by Dalrymple and Carlson.

The Bates Invitational, the final invitational that the tennis team will go to as a team this year, is set up in a tournament style. All competitors from the colleges, both singles and doubles, will be assigned a seed and divided into brackets according to their ranking. The top two seeds will be in the A flight, the next two in the B flight and so on. The action will start on Saturday morning at 8:30 AM, at both the indoor courts of Merrill Gymnasium and the outdoor Bardwell Street courts. With the games running all day, the team is hoping to draw a boost from an enthusiastic home crowd.

The Bates men's tennis tem has the makings of a good unit, this year and down the road beacause of the large number of freshmen that have joined. Along with that is the talk of their captain and coach, who seem to think that Bates Tennis will be in the upper tier of NESCAC teams in the spring season. Hopefully, Klein will be back in commission soon to join the other members in celebrating the team's victories. This weekend is a great opportunity for some of the top members of the team to step of out Klein's shadow to prove that they're for real. Check them out and cheer them on.