March 3, 2004

Dear Slug Tennis Fans,

I must be brief so let's get to it! We had a barn burner at the Slug House with the always tough Bulldogs of Redlands. We started the match as we have lately winning easily at three doubles with Shane Templeman and Matt Seeberger dominating 8-3. Unfortunately we dropped both one and two doubles both by scores of 8-4.

On to the singles where we have been a bit rougher on teams. First off was Matt Seeberger with a 6-3,6-3 win at number two singles to even the match at 1-1. Matt struggled at first but found a way to hang in and keep his opponent off balance with his variety and movement skills. Redlands rebounded with the next match as Matt Brunner lost 6-4,6-3 at three singles. Matt is competing well but missing to many shots early in the point. I feel very confident that he is on a good track and will continue to improve.

Shane Templeman evened things up with a 7-6,7-6 win at four singles. It seems he has forgotten how to lose as he continues to come up with his best tennis at key junctures in the match. He remains undefeated for the year in dual matches. Kevin Casey showed his grit and determination in winning 6-3,6-2 at five singles. He did a great job blending offense and defense in this hotly contested match. Next off was Andrew Cohen who lost a heartbreaker 6-2,2-6,7-5. Andrew played some great tennis but his serve let him down as he was unable to hold the entire third set.

With the match deadlocked at 3 all it came down to the number one singles with two great competitors in Brian Casey and Brian Murphy of Redlands. After dropping the first set 7-5, Brian Casey started attacking more and hitting deeper in the court which forced Murphy to stay back longer in the points. Brian Casey's superior fitness took its toll late in the match as he won the second set and was at one all in the third when the match became deadlocked at 3-3. From there he kicked it up a notch and tore through the third set 6-1! Great senior leadership from our lone senior!

Next up is Pomona Pitzer Sunday March 7th at 9:00am followed by Univ of Rochester at 3:00. Great to have so many of our great Slug fans at the match. I think I counted 6 ex-players that were members of past national championship teams and their support was greatly appreciated. Thanks also to all the family members, the UCSC soccer teams, and the OPERS staff for all their support.

All the best and Go Slugs!

Coach Bob Hansen and the Slugs

P.S. Thanks again for your continued support and keep a lookout for an upcoming email update. (Click here to sign up for email updates.)