by Chad Harp
Staff Writer
Despite the lack of experience with collegiate competition, the University of La Verne men’s tennis team ended the year with a winning record and one of the best Leopard tennis finishes in almost 30 years.
The season came to a close last weekend at the Ojai Tournament where the Leopards’ No. 1 and 2 players were matched up with the No. 2 and 3 players in the region.
Freshman Josh Horwitz was matched up against the No. 3 regional player from Whitman College, Tim Mullin.
Horwitz who has been hampered by tendonitis, was a bit off during the match and was not able to keep up with the steady play of Mullin. Mullin defeated Horwitz, 6-1, 6-1.
Fellow freshman Chad Rodriguez was matched up against another very capable opponent. The University of Redlands No. 2 regionally ranked Steve Marshburn was Rodriguez’s counterpart.
The match was played well on both sides of the net, but with Marshburn’s solid play and his game a little bit sharper, Rodriguez had a problem getting back to deuce. Marshburn defeated Rodriguez 6-0, 6-1.
To open the day, Horwitz and Rodriguez were scheduled to play doubles against the veteran pair from Redlands, Rob Candiotty and Marco Bravo. The Leopards youth was exposed playing the crafty Bulldogs, as they were beaten 6-3, 6-0.
However, after the game Bravo and Candiotty complimented the two freshman saying that their playing reminded them of themselves in there first collegiate year.
As a team, the season showed positive results. The majority of the players ended with a winning record, and the team ended with a winning record for the first time in years. The team finished 6-4 in conference and an even 9-9 overall.
Playing for the opportunity of a fourth place conference finish at the SCIAC tournament held at Redlands on April 20 and 21. After being defeated by the Occidental Tigers, a team who the Leopards had previously beaten, they were placed into the consolation bracket of the tournament.
From there the Leopards beat Whittier and salvaged a victory over Caltech for a fifth place conference finish.
“I was kind of disappointed, we should’ve finished fourth and could’ve even finished third,” said head coach Steve Bergovoy.
Next year’s team expectations will be much greater than this year. Essentially the whole team is returning, including senior Kiran Asola who has another year of eligibility. Freshmen who are expected to make a huge impact as sophomores are Horwitz, Rodriguez and Jason Cortez.
To bring an extra level of competition to the team, two top state ranked high school seniors are being recruited and expected to attend the University of La Verne.
With the extra year of experience and the young talent coming in, the Leopards are looking much stronger as a conference contender already.
Bergovoy, excited about next year said, “Our top four will be one of the best top four in the conference. I’m conservatively looking at finishing third next year, but with the right amount of work, a second or first place finish wouldn’t surprise me. I also expect one or two of our players to be regionally ranked by this time next year.”
