By Kyle Jorrey
Sports Editor
No one really knew what to expect from the Pepperdine men’s tennis team when it stepped on the court of Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center this past weekend.
With a completely new coaching staff and a team without a single senior, the Waves went into their matches against Cal Poly and St. Mary’s full of early season nerves, but still managed to escape with wins.
In the morning, the team won its dual match against Cal Poly 5-2, and then picked up the rackets again in the afternoon to defeat St. Mary’s by the same tally. For new Head Coach Adam Steinberg, the beginning of the season was a long time coming.
“I think we were all real excited to get started. It feels like we haven’t played in 10 years,” Steinberg said. “This team is very young, and we were really fired up to get the season going.”
Pepperdine’s No. 1 doubles team of juniors Diego Acuna and Calle Hansen set the pace for the weekend, winning both of their matches that day, 8-1 against Cal Poly and 8-3 against St. Mary’s.
Also going undefeated in doubles competition were freshman Scott Doerner and sophomore Alexis Rafidison.
Steinberg, who came over to Malibu from the University of Alabama, was happy with his team’s performance, but said its has lots of room for improvement.
“We could have played better, there was a lot of nervous energy out there, a lot of tentative tennis being played,” Steinberg said. “But our attitude was great. I thought we played really hard, and we just didn’t execute as well as we could have because of nerves.”
Hansen, who along with Acuna has taken up the leadership reigns for the team, said he was impressed with the effort from his younger teammates over the first few weeks of the season.
“Everyone is always a little nervous in their first match, but I don’t think they let it affect themselves too much,” Hansen said. “I know everyone is practicing hard right now, and that is great.”
At age 23, Hansen is the team’s oldest and most experienced tennis player. For this reason, he said he is trying to help out his teammates all he can, and said he enjoys the opportunity to lead.
In singles matches over the weekend Pepperdine went 8-4, including three wins from freshmen, many of whom had never played in a team competition before that day.
“A lot of the young guys are just used to playing for themselves,” Steinberg said. “They’ve played in individual tournaments their whole lives; it’s different. Now they don’t just have to worry about themselves, but the five players next to them.
“You feel a lot more pressure playing in a team environment,” he added. “Some thrive in it and some don’t. I think we have the players that will thrive under it.”
As for Saturday’s near-perfect temperatures, Steinberg admitted it was a pleasant change from what he was used to.
“I’ve come from the frigid cold in Chicago and the high humidity of Alabama. This is just so great. It really is,” Steinberg said.
Pepperdine will see its next action today, hosting UC Berkeley in a match that begins at noon.
January 16, 2003
