Bittersweet endings for men's, women's tennis

By Joe Doss-Antoun

Though the men's tennis team experienced tremendous success throughout the regular season, their shortcomings during the West Coast Conference tournament in San Diego this past weekend earned them only a fourth place finish.

The second-seeded Broncos cruised through the first round of the tournament with a 4-1 victory over Loyola Marymount. However, the Broncos were unable to earn a spot in the championship game, falling 4-1 in the semifinals to the host school, San Diego.

"Mentally, we were not strong enough," said coach George Husack. "It's disappointing and frustrating that we were unable to accomplish our end-all goal, which was to make the conference finals."

Having lost in the semifinals, the Broncos faced Saint Mary's in the third place match.

Despite earning the doubles point in the contest, the Broncos' inability to capitalize at singles was enough to give the Gaels the victory. Only junior Blane Shields was able to come away with a singles victory, one of his three singles victories in the tournament.

"It only matters what the team does," said Shields. "Some guys had a better week than others, and when everybody is on, then we win. But when we're not all on at the same time, which was the case this past weekend, then sometimes you lose."

With the loss, the Broncos earned fourth place in the WCC tournament.

On the season, the Broncos compiled 20 wins and eight losses, which tied a school record for wins in a season. The men's team also earned road victories versus a Pac-10 school (University of Arizona) and Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo for the first time in school history.

"This season has been very successful for us in the sense that we accomplished many of our preseason goals," said Husack. "We won twenty games, had a winning record at home and we earned a national team ranking."

In fact, the Broncos have been nationally ranked for thirteen consecutive weeks, peaking at No. 59.

Much of the team's successes can be credited to freshman Jay Wong. In his first year of collegiate tennis, Wong tied Francisco Zepponi for the most singles wins in one season in Santa Clara history.

"The confidence that we achieved this season and the way this season ended will definitely give us extra incentive to improve for next season," said Wong.

Women rained out

The women's tennis team entered the West Coast Conference tournament in Malibu as the seventh seed, and for the third year in a row, their title hopes ended in the first round.

The Broncos failed to record a victory in the first round as No. 2 seed Saint Mary's swept the first four matches of the day. The Broncos' seeds two through five were all defeated before top-seeded Casey Knutson could finish her match.

Despite the sweep, Santa Clara bounced back the next day to secure a shot at placing fifth in the WCC Tournament.

Led by seniors Knutson and Erika Barnes, the Broncos defeated sixth-seeded Portland by a score of 4-2. Knutson and Barnes tied the Santa Clara single-season record with their 16th doubles win, while also coming out victorious in each of their respective singles matches.

"I really couldn't be happier. We lost to Portland earlier this season, and it is great to come back and beat them in the WCCs," said Head Coach Ben Cabell. "We had good performances up and down the singles lineup, and we played well in doubles."

The victory earned Santa Clara a spot in the fifth place match against San Francisco. However, the weather proved to be the Broncos' toughest opponent of the day.

With the overall match tied at 3-3 and Knutson and Barnes leading 7-4 in the final match, rain started to fall and the match was cancelled.

"The team was close to winning today, but we just couldn't beat the rain," said Cabell.

As a result, both Santa Clara and USF were awarded a tie for fifth place in the conference.

"We will take fifth place any day after coming in as the seventh seed," said Cabell. "That is two spots better than a year ago, so that shows the team's improvement."

Commissioner's Cup

The spring season is winding down, and the Commissioner's Cup race is becoming more clear. With a sweep of the men's and women's tennis tournaments last weekend, Pepperdine has pulled within 5.5 points of Santa Clara for first place. In addition, Pepperdine is currently tied for first in baseball, which would potentially give them eight points in the standings. However, the Broncos are currently fourth in baseball, which would earn them five points and the Commissioner's Cup.

Contact Joe Doss-Antoun at (408) 551-1918 or jdossantoun@scu.edu.

Correction: Due to an editing error, the story's deck incorrectly stated the place the men's tennis team finished in the WCC Tournament. It is fourth. The cutline incorrectly stated the picture was taken at the WCC tournament in Malibu. It was taken in Santa Clara.