The Raiders men's tennis squad is gearing up for another season, and are confident that they can greatly improve on last years record. After some early season struggles, the young Raider squad finished the 2010-2011 season with a 6-16 mark.

Ben Esh-Nauta made great progress in singles after participating in only doubles in high school.  Matt Jackson transformed into a legitimate college player to be reckoned with after a similar high school background. Joining Ben & Matt in the starting lineup will be Casey Feenstra who played #1 singles for Forest Hills Northern for three years and is quickly catching up to speed in doubles, Keith Lannon and Andrew Amante, both solid players formerly from Rockford’s singles lineup a year ago with outstanding records at their respective positions and Clayton Hodge who also made all-conference from East Kentwood and is showing great potential in his doubles game.

This year’s schedule is similar to last season’s however the spring break trip will have several new opponents. There are 20-30 teams to schedule with each year at the Hilton Head Island tennis tournament.  The team will play 8 matches within 7 days this March.  The West Michigan Intercollegiate Tournament on February 17-18 continues to be a highlight on everyone’s schedule and this year will be no exception.  In all, GRCC plays 15 matches against 4-year schools, 1 community college match and 5 in state Division I club matches as well as 3 tournaments.

The 2012 squad is loaded with talent and experience. The team boasts 4 freshmen added that all earned all-conference honors last year and 5 sophomores with a year under their belt.  With the fall season behind them and already 2 wins in 4 matches, this squad has goals of a winning record which hasn’t been accomplished in over 10 years due to the rigorous schedule.