By Kyle Jorrey
Sports Editor
With less than two weeks until the West Coast Conference Championships, the young Pepperdine men’s tennis squad is feeling pretty good about its chances.
Despite a 7-0 loss Friday afternoon at the hands of nation’s top men’s tennis team, the Illinois Fighting Illini, Pepperdine players and coaches said spirits are high. The day before the loss, the Waves (11-9) pitched a shutout of their own, taking down fellow WCC contender Santa Clara, 7-0, to improve its record against conference opponents to 3-1.
In a match that saw four of six singles matches stretched to three sets, Head Coach Adam Steinberg said it was much closer than the scoreboard revealed.
“We were in the match the whole time,” Steinberg said. “I wish we would’ve believed a little bit more … put the match in doubt for them, but I think this will help the guys go into the NCAA tournament not scared of anyone.”
Freshman Scott Doerner, who along with Pedro Rico captured the team’s lone victory against Illinois in No. 2 doubles, agreed with his coach’s assessment.
“Even though we lost, it was a real positive feeling,” freshman Doerner said. “We left everything out there on the court, and that was good for us. We know next time we have to be that much better.”
Against the Illini, the Waves came in riding an impressive three-game win streak that included upsets over two top-20 teams, but the Illini, who improved to a perfect 16-0, would let the Malibu crowd know why it is the team to beat in college tennis.
After Rico and Doerner pulled off the upset in No. 2 doubles, freshman tandem Kevin Borz-enski and Alexis Rafidison had a chance to secure a doubles point at No. 3. Despite getting up early, the young duo dropped its guard and allowed the more experienced Illini to pull off a come-from-behind victory, 8-6.
“Winning doubles would have been huge for us; we needed it that day,” Steinberg said. “Third doubles could have won, they just relaxed a bit when they got up and that hurt … but I was proud of the team, these guys didn’t back down at all to the No. 1 team in the country.”
With their team down 1-0 after doubles play, the Waves refused to back down. In singles action, Pepperdine would give the Illini all they could handle, but got no wins to show for it. At No. 1 singles, junior Calle Hansen, playing with a sore left wrist, dropped a two-set match to Rajeev Ram, one of the nation’s top freshmen. Junior Diego Acuna, playing at No. 2 singles, couldn’t get by the Illini’s Phil Stolt, losing in two sets, 6-4, 6-3.
All four Waves freshmen would have their matches decided in highly contested three-set games.
“After the match, the Illinois coach came up and said it was the hardest match they’ve faced all season,” Doerner said. “If things went a little bit differently, we could have easily won the match.”
According to Steinberg, scheduling a young squad against the nation’s top team is always a risk, but he said it’s one he’s willing to take.
“You can get blown out and feel you are really far away, or you can show you had a chance to win, and I think we did that,” he said. “The guys are playing great, we’re a different team now after the Duke and Georgia matches, and I think even losing 7-0 we played them really close.”
In the next two weeks, the Waves will face a flurry of top-notched squads — Stanford, UC Irvine, Fresno State — as they prepare for the WCC and NCAA tournaments, which are quickly approaching.
The WCC tournament takes place at San Diego University April 11-13. It just so happens it is the home court of the Toreros, the conference foe that knocked off the Waves 4-3 almost two months ago.
If you ask the team players, they’ll tell you, it’s one they wish they had back.
“We are really excited to go down there and have another crack at San Diego,” Doerner said. “Pepperdine has dominated the conference for years, so we really want to go down there and prove we are still the best in the WCC, and get our revenge on San Diego … we’re really keying on that match.”
Chances are the Waves will have to get through two teams if they want a crack at the Toreros. Steinberg is already warning his team not to look ahead.
“Loyola (Marymount) can play, Santa Clara’s a good team,” he said. “Everyone in this conference can play, and hey, it’s college tennis –— anything can happen.”
As expectation for the WCC tournament goes, players and coaches said they won’t settle for second.
“Anything but winning that tournament will be a disappointment,” Steinberg said.
April 03, 2003