Newsletter
| Singles and Doubles Scores
April 19, 2004
Dear Slug Tennis Fans,
The Slugs ended the regular season with a bang as we defeated two Div l teams
in the same day. First up was Northern Arizona
who we played in San Luis Obispo and played extremely well in singles and doubles.
First off were the Casey's who won 8-2 and continue to grow in all aspects
of their doubles. We lost at two doubles as Shane Templeman and Matt
Seeberger dropped a well-played 8-5 decision. With the doubles point on
the line, Matt Brunner and Kellen Ali-Christie came through with
dominating serves and overheads as well as solid volleying to win 8-5 in a very
exciting and well played match.
The momentum carried over to the singles as we won five of six matches all in
straight sets. Brian Casey lost a tough decision at one singles to a
very strong French player. We played eight singles matches, and in the rest
of the matches we out-played and out-competed our Div l opponents. It was nice
to win in decisive fashion, 6-1, as we had a quick lunch before returning
to the courts to play Cal Poly.
Cal Poly started
the match strong, winning two of the three doubles matches to claim the doubles
point. At 1 doubles, Brett Van Linge and John Nguyen of Cal Poly defeated Matt
Brunner and Kellen Ali-Christie, 8-5. At two doubles, Matt Baca and
Nick Tracy defeated Shane Templeman and Matt Seeberger 8-3. UCSC's
only doubles victory came at the number three spot. The Casey brothers
defeated Cal Poly's Davey Jones and Stacey Merenoff in a convincing 8-1 win.
Despite losing the doubles point, UC Santa Cruz battled in singles. First off
was Freshman Matt Seeberger at the number two slot. His dominating play
was too much for Matt Baca (CP) as he posted a 6-4, 6-2 victory. Matt Seeberger
had never beaten Matt Baca in several earlier junior encounters and it shows
his continued improvement. Next off was Kevin Casey at No. 4 singles
chalking up a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Cal Poly Mustang, Davey Jones. Davey has
always been a tough spot in the Cal Poly lineup and Kevin played extremely well
and was very poised in this match. Brian Casey, at the top spot, defeated
John Nguyen (CP), 6-4, 7-5. John is a great player and serves extremely well.
Brian battled the elements and his opponent in a very solid match. Matt Brunner
(UCSC) fell to Stacey Merenoff 6-1, 7-5. The tennis in the second set was an
extremely high level but it came a bit late after a rough start. As Matt finds
more consistency, he will be a force as his best stuff has been very good in
his last couple matches. At number six singles, Andrew Cohen lost a three-set
heartbreaker to Travis Crawford of Cal Poly. Andrew came back from 3-5 down
in the third to get to 5 all before falling in the final two games. With the
match deadlocked at three all, it came down to Shane Templeman who was
just starting the third set of a hard fought match. After dropping the first
two games, Shane got his rhythm back and played well for the remained of the
match. He served down 3-4 and 4-5 before finally breaking at 5 all. For the
first time in his illustrious career, Shane started to cramp and I was worried
he would be unable to finish. He kept his cool and on his first break opportunity
attacked and hit a net cord winner on break point. All day long it seemed we
could not get a break but this one came at a wonderful time as Shane served
out the match for a 6-7, 6-4, 7-5 win over senior Nick Tracy. With this match,
UCSC clinched the win over Cal Poly to defeat them 4-3.
The match was plagued with heavy winds which made it difficult to acquire rhythm.
I am proud of the way we handled the adverse conditions by battling with our
hearts and minds. It was a true team effort today as we showed drive and passion
heading into the final stretch of the season. I feel as we are in a great position
as we prepare for the NCAA Regionals coming up.
We head off to Ojai for the West Regional singles and doubles championships
this weekend. You can follow results by going to ojaitourney.org.
It is truly one of the best tournaments in the world, and we are very excited
about the chance to see 8 singles players and 4 doubles teams compete.
The following weekend,
May 1 & 2, we will play in the first found of the NCAA tournament. We hope to
host and I will provide information as soon as it is available. Thanks again
for all of your support. The Parmellys were wonderful hosts and we really
appreciated their hospitality. We finish the season with a 23-4 dual match
record and end with 10 straight wins!
Best wishes,
Coach Hansen and Taylor