NORTON, MA- With a nearly identical roster in place from 2008, a year which saw the Wheaton College men's tennis squad post its sixth consecutive winning season, 20th-year head coach Lynn Miller anticipates the 2009 version to be strong but is issuing a challenge to her 12-member team.

"In order for us to reach the next level, we need a commitment from every player in terms of what each does outside of practice," said Miller. "The game is more complex than it was 20 years ago and techniques are different. By the time they're seniors I want them to be so analytical that they can coach themselves, know and understand their game, and be less reliant upon me."

Miller and her coaching staff, which consists of assistants Brian Dalrymple, Bill Sadlowski and Chuck Straley, possess a challenge of their own: finding a healthy balance between match play and teaching fundamentals. Dalrymple makes a return to the program after serving five years in the 1990s, while Sadlowski and Straley are back for their third seasons.

Miller believes the Lyons, who went 9-7 overall in 2008 while recording a 2-3 New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) mark and advancing to their sixth straight league tournament semifinal round, are smarter than last year and have a better understanding of her expectations but have room for improvement. Miller points to drill work, one-on-one interaction and video analysis as key cogs for the success of a team that competed in three tournaments and one dual match last fall.

"These areas assist in the teaching philosophy I have for wanting players to reach their maximum potential," said Miller, who expressed her excitement of working on an individual basis. "These guys love to play tennis and compete, but I want to up their level of play. To be able to strategize, be more versatile in their game and be consistent in what they're doing are important."

With only one graduated senior departed, Wheaton's group consists of 11 returning players, including seven who hail from the sophomore class. Three juniors along with one senior and a freshman comprise the remainder of a team Miller believes can at least be as successful as it was in 2008. And as much as she wants her players to focus on performance goals and not outcome goals, there's still that side of her that hates to lose.

"As much as I preach and believe we should concentrate on things we have control over, as a competitor and coach I don't like to lose," added Miller. "I believe we can have a winning season, but ultimately I want every player to feel some aspect of their game improved and that they have a better understanding of the game.

If something is that important, you make it a priority. We're all human, procrastinate and make excuses, but when you get down to it, if they want to get better that badly they have the resources here for that to happen. I can help them get there, but they have to want to get there."

Miller is contemplating going eight deep in her starting lineup, with the possibility of four players competing at both singles and doubles. Vying for higher-slotted positions are juniors Kyle Hudgins (Uxbridge, MA/Uxbridge) and James Little (Mount Desert, ME/Mount Desert Island), sophomore Gregory Poulin (Boxboro, MA/Home Schooled) and freshman Neall Oliver (Portland, ME/Deering).

A two-time NEWMAC All-Conference singles selection, Hudgins led last year's team in singles, doubles and overall victories, going 12-6, 12-9 and 24-15, respectively. He played mostly third singles and second doubles as a sophomore. Little, who competed at second singles and first doubles last spring, accumulated a combined 15 wins. Poulin also notched 15 total triumphs primarily from the top singles and doubles spots, while Oliver picked up five victories this past fall.

Senior captain Nii Manfoi Davies (Town & Country, MO/The Principia) and sophomores Harry Altman (Riverdale, NY/The Dwight School), Cullen Garrity (Middletown, MD/Saint James School) and Brian Krantz (Milford, CT/Joseph A. Foran) could also figure into Miller's starting plans.

The majority of Krantz's matches came at fourth singles and second doubles, as he recorded 11 wins apiece as a freshman, falling one victory shy of Hudgins' singles and doubles marks. Altman spent the majority of his first year in the starting fold, going 6-6 from the fifth singles position and 7-6 alongside Garrity in the third doubles slot. Garrity racked up 10 doubles wins, while Davies cracked the starting lineup a handful of times, earning a pair of wins each in singles and doubles play.

Junior Chapman Beekman (South Kingstown, RI/South Kingstown) and sophomores Trent Faltin (Durham, NH/Oyster River), James Fineman (Bar Harbor, ME/Mount Desert Island) and Josh Fisher (Ridgefield, CT/Wooster School) round out the roster. Beekman picked up a couple of victories at sixth singles a year ago, and Faltin was victorious in two matches as a freshman.

As they have traditionally done to start their spring, the Lyons get underway in Hilton Head, South Carolina, with a four-match southern swing beginning on March 8 against Brevard College of North Carolina. After returning to New England to face host Bridgewater State College on March 17, Wheaton opens its home slate on March 24 versus the University of Massachusetts at Boston before hosting Springfield College four days later to begin its five-match league slate. The final two rounds of the NEWMAC Tournament will be held in Norton on April 25.