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“We put some fear into [Gustavus],” said first-year Piper Head Coach Nathan Klonecki. Hamline would lose the match but the message was sent: the Pipers can compete with the best in the MIAC.

This year’s Pipers have returned most players but have a new coach. Klonecki replaced coach Dan Haertl, who served 20 years as the women’s head coach and eight as the men’s coach.

Klonecki was Haertl’s assistant coach for one season, 2006. The transition from coach-to-coach can be difficult but this change is familiar. “[The transition] has been pretty good and easy,” said Klonecki. “I give all the credit to the players.”

Klonecki has high hopes and expectations for both his teams this year. The men’s team is full of veteran players. The team lost two integral players from last year’s team in Jon Henning and Ben Watkins, who graduated. In order to compensate, the Pipers plan to shift players in out of positions.

The men’s team will utilize the parity among its top five players in an attempt to manufacture the lost production. “Everybody has a positive and a weakness in their game. It gives us balance.” Klonecki believes one or more players on the team will elevate their play this year to further fill the void.

Against St. Scholastica last week, the men did not fare well. They lost in a 6-3 decision, although senior Andy Carlson took the number-one singles spot and fellow senior Jon Breimhorst claimed second singles.

The women’s team is quite the contrast to the men's in terms of the make-up of their rosters. After finishing sixth in the MIAC, the women’s team added three first-years to a youthful team that includes no juniors and only three seniors. The infusion of youth, though, is also an infusion of talent that has potential to help the Pipers win now. “[We] have added some first-years that have come in to make us deep,” said Klonecki.

Looking forward, the women's team will be anchored by seniors Kristen Bothun, Andrea Eilertson, and sophomore Kelly Gust. In 2006, Bothun and Gust won a striking 13 matches in a row. On Feb. 18, the duo won the number-one doubles match and Bothun won her number one singles match in the team’s 7-2 loss to St. Scholastica.
The season really gets rolling after spring break when they return from their annual trip to Orlando. The Pipers head to Orlando on March 18.