TAYLOR BIRD
Sports Assistant
Four players from the Pepperdine men’s tennis team traveled to Alabama over the weekend to take part in the 2007 Crimson Tide Fall Championships, where three of them earned a second place spot. The tournament was hosted by the University of Alabama and began Friday, Oct. 26 and ended Sunday, Oct. 28.
The Waves’ players who participated were junior Omar Altmann, sophomores James Lemke and Mahmoud Kamel and freshman Alex Moreno. Other schools at the tournament included North Carolina State, Virginia Tech, Clemson University and the University of Michigan.
On Friday, three Waves each picked up victories in the singles competition to advance to the quarterfinals.
Altmann defeated Pjotrs Necajevs (Mississippi) 6-3, 6-4, Kamel defeated Francisco Redondo (Auburn University Montgomery) 6-3, 2-6, 6-2, and Moreno edged out Diego Machuca (University of Southern Mississippi) 6-4, 7-6. Lemke lost to Alberto Gonzales (Auburn) 0-6, 7-5, 6-2.
In Friday’s doubles competition, Altmann and Moreno teamed up and won their first match against Lloyd/Watson (RAD) but lost in the quarterfinals to Anic/Arendt (Southern Mississippi) by a score of 8-1.
Kamel defeated Ryan Smith (Georgia Tech) 6-3, 6-4, Saturday to advance to the semifinals, where he beat Houssam Yassine (Alabama) 6-3, 7-6, earning himself a spot in the finals.
The duo of Altmann and Moreno also moved onto the finals Saturday by winning their doubles match Saturday, 9-7 over Myeni/Walston of Alabama.
On Sunday, Kamel took second place after his defeat to Yoann Re (Virginia Tech) 6-3, 6-3. The doubles team of Altman/Moreno also fell in the finals, 8-3 to Johnson/Miskovic (AUM).
Meanwhile, Lemke came in first place for the singles competition consolation round, winning over Chris Racz (Tennessee) 6-2, 6-1.
Head Coach Adam Steinberg said his players could have played better in Alabama, but he believes they came out of the tournament as stronger competitors.
“I definitely see room for improvement,” he said. “We definitely can play better. I thought we learned a lot from those matches. That was the big positive.”
On Oct. 31, the Waves sent senior Andre Begemann and sophomore Bassam Beidas to Tulsa, Okla., to participate in the ITA Indoor National Championships, sponsored by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. The championships run Nov. 1-4.
Beidas qualified for the tournament after his victory at the ITA Polo Ralph Lauren All-American Tournament on Oct. 7. Begemann’s win at the ITA Regional Tournament on Oct. 24 ensured him a spot at the indoor championships.
“I love their chances,” Steinberg said. “I think either one of them has the chance to be crowned champion there. They can play with anybody.”
The remainder of the team began play Thursday, Nov. 1 at the Southern California Intercollegiate Championships in Los Angeles. Their competition includes players from schools such as Brigham Young University, UCLA, Concordia University and USC. Taking part in the singles competition Thursday are freshmen Moreno and Stuart Keplar, juniors Altmann and Troy Aiken and sophomores Lemke and Kamel. Lemke heads into the tournament as the No.-3 seed.
The pair of Altmann/Lemke will compete as the No.-2 seed in the doubles competition against Hui/Zeidan (UCSB). Keplar and Moreno will team up against Fabre/Kpulun (Concordia).
“Those tournaments are so deep [that] every match is so hard,” Steinberg said. “It’s gotten incredibly tough every time we play. This is our last tournament of the fall, so I think it’d be really great to end on a high note.”
The Southern California Championships last until Sunday, Nov. 4 at the Los Angeles Tennis Club.
11-01-2007
