Coming off the most successful season in University of Detroit Mercy women's tennis history, the Titans are now entering a new era with first-year head coach Sam Poole.

Poole, who has served as an assistant coach for Detroit the past two seasons, was elevated to head coach this past May after nine-year head coach Daron Montgomery stepped down.

"Coaching college tennis is my dream and I am thankful to the administration for this opportunity,” said Poole. “I know that we're going to work hard this year and try to pick up where Daron left off; the expectations I put on myself are very hard, to see what we can do in my first year as head coach."

Outside of the coaching ranks, Detroit will also see some new faces on the team as the Titans lost four players, three of which were solid contributors in Zeljka Minic, Annie Moore and Aneta Maricevic. The three of them combined for 48 singles victories in 2009 and helped lead the Titans to the Horizon League Championship match for the first time in school history.

"Daron's line-up was spectacular last year and I think this season we may be a little shorthanded considering who we lost from last year's squad," commented Poole.

On the flip side, the Titans return senior Svetlana Flankova, who tallied 12 singles wins for the Titans, mostly at No. 4, and was a part of 21 doubles victories, which stands tied for third in Detroit's single season record books. In addition, Flankova earned the 2009 Coach's Award at the end of the season.

"Svetlana is a great leader," stated Poole. "She's been here for four years and has helped build a program. She's kind of a role model to the other girls because she knows the other teams and can help with scouting, as well as reviewing how the opponents play.

"The strengths of her game is that she has very good ball control and can move the ball around really well; she covers a lot of ground on the court."

Another returner from last year's squad is junior Erin Weldon. She made a huge impact for the team last year as she posted 23 singles wins, which tied for a team-high showing and is also tied for third in Detroit's annals. Weldon posted a 6-2 mark in Horizon League competition, all at the No. 6 flight.

"Erin will give you 100 percent out on the court all of the time," commented Poole. "She works hard and is kind of the meat and potatoes of the team because she'll do whatever you ask of her."

The final returnee who saw competition last year is sophomore Sophie Sjoberg-Sundstrom. She finished the 2009 campaign as team leader with a combined 42 wins and tied for a team-high 23 singles victories, which is also tied for third in Detroit's record books. Sjoberg-Sundstrom collected a 15-2 mark at the No. 5 slot, where she also posted a 6-2 record in Horizon League play.

"Sophie had a strong freshman year," said Poole. "She has a very strong will to win and is very competitive, which is a great thing for the team.

"She also uses what she has to win matches. If something isn't working out that day, she'll pull out Plan B or C to get it done."

Sophomore Amanda Cornwell was on the team last year, but did not compete. She graduated from Waterford Kettering in 2008 and was named Division 2 All-Michigan senior season.

"Amanda is extremely talented and dangerous out on the court," added Poole. "We're just waiting as a program for her to pull it all together and, once she does, look out because she has a lot of ability."

Three freshmen were added to this year's roster in Victoria Baca, Melanie Capuano and Carolina Salas Espinosa. Baca comes to Detroit from Ecuador where she graduated from El Sauce in 2009.

"Victoria makes a lot of balls on the court," stated Poole. "She's unpredictable because she's able to change the direction of the ball and works the point very good."

Capuano is a redshirt freshman who played club tennis at Michigan State for one season (2009). She is a graduate of Grosse Pointe High School where she earned First Team All-Michigan four years in a row.

"Melanie gets a lot of balls back on the court and will make her opponent play until the very last ball, which is a good thing to have at the end of your line-up," commented Poole. "She's kind of like a junkyard dog because Melanie's going to go after every point, be tough and be very competitive."

Espinosa hails from Monterrey, Mexico where she graduated from Preparatoria No. 7 in 2008. She captured Nuevo Leon Statal Regionals singles title in 2006, '08 and '09, as well as advancing to the semifinal round of the regionals in 2007.

"As a freshman, I was very impressed with Carolina's game in the fall," added Poole. "She has a solid game and just uplifts the team with solid play. Carolina is just an all around good player."

The Titans open up their 2010 schedule at home against Eastern Michigan, for one of seven home matches of the year. Following four road matches, Detroit will host Cincinnati on Feb. 14, but will not return to its home court until the middle of Horizon League play on March 26 against Valparaiso. The Titans open up conference competition at Wright State (March 19) and close it out at home versus Youngstown State on April 18.

"It's tough because there's not a balance of home and away matches," said Poole. "I don't think that anything is for certain for us this year because of the strong competition.

"I think that we're going to have a solid season and that the wins will come together, but things will not be easy."