Tennessee Announces 2010 Team Captain
The Volunteers will look to the captains for leadership in the upcoming season. The season includes games against perennial powers Florida State, Lindenwood, Virginia Tech and Texas A&M on top of the always tough divisional opponents in the Southestern Lacrosse Conference (SELC). The season officially begins Feb. 12 against Clemson University on the TRECS Intramural Field at the University of Tennessee. “It is with great pride that we announce the 2009-2010 captains of Tennessee lacrosse,” said Tennessee head coach Matt Synowiez. “These four men bring a great deal of leadership to our team on and off the field, and I am not surprised these four individuals were chosen by their peers to be their leaders this season,” Synowiez said. Cleary, an attackman from Franklin, Tenn., has been named captain for the second straight year. He was named SELC honorable mention all-conference at attack last season and will be looked to anchor the attack again this year. “Jack has competed against our opponent’s best defenseman every game for the last three years,” said Synowiez. “He hasn’t always been our leading scorer, but he always makes the right decision and is without a doubt our on-field general in the offense. His presence makes everyone else on the field better.” Kerley, a defenseman from Madison, Miss. who attended Battle Ground Academy in Brentwood, Tenn., has also been named captain for the second year. Kerley, a 6’ 5” athlete, covers a great deal of ground on the field. Kerley had never played lacrosse before he came to the University of Tennessee and has come a very long way in a short amount of time. His length, quickness and calming demeanor have made him a natural leader since he joined the lacrosse program and being selected as a captain two years in a row is certainly an example of that. Kerley played high level basketball growing up and had a very high defensive IQ the day he picked up a lacrosse stick. Bates, a long stick midfielder from Knoxville, has been the hardest working player in the University of Tennessee lacrosse program since the day he joined us as a freshman. He has all day energy and has never complained a single day he has been on the team. He is the embodiment of being a hard-nosed, tough lacrosse player and has always played much bigger than his 5’ 10”, 160 lb. frame. Bates is extremely quick and can run with anyone in the MCLA. The Volunteers will lean on him one more season to be the anchor of their defensive midfield unit. Aloma, a defenseman from Rochester, N.Y., has been a three-year starter for the Volunteers alongside Kerley on the defensive unit. He has a tremendous handle on the game of lacrosse and is UT’s most vocal leader on the defense. Aloma knows where everyone is supposed to be and makes the entire defensive unit better with his presence. He is another hard-nosed player that has taken on whatever challenge the team has asked him to overcome. “I have greatly enjoyed watching these boys develop into the players, and more importantly, the men they are today. We have greatly improved on the field as a lacrosse program over the last five years, but more important to the coaching staff is that we have helped develop leaders that will excel in their future lives after lacrosse is over,” said Synowiez. The Volunteers open up the season against visiting Clemson University Feb. 12 at 8:00 p.m.
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn.–The University of Tennessee men’s lacrosse club has named seniors Jack Cleary, Patrick Kerley, Chris Bates and Luis Aloma as its captains for the 2009-2010 season.Copyright 2024 - University of Tennessee Men's Lacrosse | Website by LaxTeams.net