Men's Tennis Ready to Continue Past Success
By Ryan Mahoney
Santa Clara's men's tennis team is coming off their best season ever, one that included an NCAA tournament berth, a 22-6 overall record, and a first-round upset of the University of Texas.
The program came into the season ranked 35th in the country, the best in the program's history at Santa Clara. Although some challenges lay ahead for the Broncos, hopes are high among everyone involved that last season was a building block, not a high-water mark for the program.
Junior John Lamble is optimistic about the team's chances this season, despite losing Nicolas Vinel and Maxime Armengaud to graduation.
"Even though we lost a few seniors from the team last year, we still have a lot of old guys on the team this year," said Head Coach Derek Mills.
Lamble said, "We still have a lot of experience on the team."
Lamble, a junior from nearby Saratoga, plays as the No. 1 singles player for the Broncos. Last season, he garnered the program's highest ever preseason at No. 65. This season, he aspires to do even better.
"I think we're just as motivated. We want to do better than last year, go one round further in the NCAA Tournament," said Lamble. "I feel like we're just as talented this year if not more talented."
The Broncos will look for production from Ilya Osintsev, a sophomore who was named the West Coast Conference Freshman of the Year last season. The team also adds three new players in Ashot Khacharyan, a freshman from Russia, Tomasz Soltyka, from Poland. and Matt Kecki, a Sacramento native who will spend his final year of eligibility here playing for Santa Clara while pursuing a graduate degree. Kecki previously had a storied career at the University of Southern California.
Mills, in his sixth season at the helm at Santa Clara, is also optimistic that this season can be just as good, or better, than last year.
"I think the guys still have a chip on their shoulder. They want to prove they can do it without the guys we lost last year," said Mills. . "We're trying to build the chemistry right now and I think we're getting there. We started off 3-1."
The Broncos have already dropped a tough match against the 20th-ranked University of Michigan Wolverines in a tournament at the University of California, Berkeley, but won the consolation match against No. 38 Boise State University. The Broncos will continue their out of conference play with a trip to No. 22 University of Washington, another match with Boise State in Seattle, and a visit to Weber State University. Then the Broncos must face the tough WCC schedule, which includes the 7th-ranked Pepperdine University Waves and the 22nd-ranked University of San Diego Toreros.
"Pepperdine, Brigham Young University, and San Diego are the top teams," said Mills. "A lot of the teams are getting better in the WCC, they've seen our success and its motivated some other teams, unfortunately, to get better. We know we still have a lot of work to do."
Lamble added, "Pepperdine is always strong. They'll be a top-5 team. They have a legitimate shot to win the NCAAs so they're going to be tough. BYU is a good team. San Diego has been good in recent years, too. They will be big matches for us."
The Bronco will play all but three of their matches at home after Feb. 9, and hope to have a lot of support from local fans and especially students. The Broncos posted an impressive 10-1 home record last year. Should they be able to do that again this season, there's no reason to believe we won't be following our Broncos in the NCAA tournament once again.
Contact Ryan Mahoney at rmahoney@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4852.