After a 2024 campaign that saw the Ithaca men’s tennis team qualify for the Liberty League Championship Tournament for the first time since the Spring 2019 season, the young squad is looking to continue to build success on the court, while also creating a new culture off the court.
Tom Rishcoff is entering his second season at the helm of the program and is already making significant changes to how the team operates. He is preaching intentionality and said this year will be all about forming a new identity for Ithaca tennis.
“The way that we go about our everyday process is really important, [in] trying to establish a culture,” Rishcoff said. “I think continuing to be the best that we can day-to-day with what we’re doing and controlling what we can control, I think that’ll be the biggest mark for us to hit this year.”
Rishcoff is leading a squad that only features nine players, leaving the team little room for error. In tennis, you need six healthy athletes in order to field a team for competition. An even bigger challenge for the young coach is that none of his nine athletes are seniors. However, he said he does not feel that his squad lacks maturity.
After graduating all of the captains at the conclusion of the 2024 season, Rishcoff waited until this spring to name replacements. He named sophomore Gijs Fidler and junior Ean Lantzy as team captains for the 2025 season. He said he thinks having captains provides the team with mentors that the players know they can confide in and rely upon to be vocal leaders. having captains
“I think they’re doing a great job coming up with ideas, establishing a standard and maintaining that standard which is important,” Rishcoff said.
Fidler is coming off a monster first-year season, where he solidified himself as a main contributor on the team, leading the squad with 10 victories. On the other hand, Lantzy had a rough sophomore campaign, winning zero matches in singles.
However, Rischoff said Lantzy is a player who is flying under the radar heading into the new season. Lantzy said he has learned plenty through his first two seasons of collegiate tennis and believes he has the tools to get over the hump this season.
“[I want to be] playing smarter — the mental aspect of it — just strategy wise and staying confident out there and staying healthy,” Lantzy said.
On top of prioritizing his own health, Lantzy said that staying healthy will be key for the team.
His teammate, junior Siddharth Vaada is missing cartilage under his patella, an injury he has been dealing with for upwards of five years. Vaada also suffered a slipped disc in his back last season. These injuries have not stopped Vaada from developing at the collegiate level. He improved from two wins as a first-year student to six last season.
“The more and more matches I play, the more comfortable I am,” Vaada said. “That’s only going to translate into this year and next year, it’s gonna get better every match I play.”
Vaada said he plans on managing his injuries by prioritizing the most important matches against key Liberty League opponents, including Vassar College, which eliminated the Bombers in the first round of the Liberty League tournament in Spring 2024.
Vaada said the South Hill squad’s all-around depth, from its first to sixth starter, is what he thinks will separate them from other Liberty League opponents.
First-year students Ivan Kisic and Luis Crespo are two major contributors to the depth of the South Hill squad as they both project to make the starting lineup after impressive individual performances in the fall.
“They really shined,” Lantzy said. “First tournament coming in as a new student and everything, I felt they played really good, they proved themselves and it’s looking good for the future.”
Vaada said he recognizes some of the difficulties of having a roster that is relying so heavily on underclassmen. However, he said he believes their tight-knit team chemistry and balanced leadership approach will elevate the young team to its full potential.
“[Just] keeping them motivated throughout the season and making sure that there is an end goal,” Vaada said. “Our end goal is definitely to make Liberty Leagues again, if not make the finals.”
The Bombers are off to a hot start, picking up an early season victory against Drew University on Feb. 15. The South Hill squad dominated from start to finish, sweeping all six singles matches and winning the doubles match as well.
In the meantime, Rishcoff is not letting himself or his athletes get ahead of themselves. He said he recognizes the grind of both the long season, as well as building a competitive program.
“One year at a time,” Rishcoff said. “[I am] continuing to try to build some depth on the team and continu[ing] to focus on the way that we’re growing as a team. We do have a young team and I think we have a lot of high, competitive goals. I think [we are] staying day-to-day and focus[ing] on the process. That way, when we get to those big moments, we’re best set up for that.”
The Bombers will head south for a three–match Spring Break trip, before getting thrust right into the fire of Liberty League play on March 22 when they travel to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
