Seanette Garcia

Sophomore Adrian Laygo, paired with Sebastian Duroux in a doubles match, won a set for the Leopards, but La Verne went down to defeat against Whittier, 2-7. The Leopards are ranked for the season at 0-3 and 0-1 in the conference opener. By describing the Southern California Intercollegiate Conference as one of the most difficult conferences in the country, head coach Steve Bergovoy suggested the Leopards face a challenging season.

Galo Pesantes
Sports Editor

The men’s tennis team competed against two Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opponents Chapman and Whittier in
consecutive home matches Feb. 9-10 in efforts to avenge their season opening loss against Biola.

The Leopard’s doubles teams competed but were at times
outmatched by the Panthers in three of the four doubles games.

With the exception of the Leopards’ second doubles team headed by sophomore Chris Weedon and junior Joseph Manfre, who led four games to one entering the fifth frame of their match.

Yet, the tandem could not hold on and were defeated 6-8, in an exciting and well played match by both sides.

“We had it but it all fell apart in the end,” said Manfre, a movement and sports science major.

“It was the first time Chris and I were partners so we still need to learn from each other and get better,” Manfre added.

In the singles matches, La Verne fought but still came up short in all six matches against the Panthers.

Some notable performances were by Weedon and junior Evan Mobley, who dropped both of their matches by the same result, 3-6, 2-6.

Top singles’ players included sophomore transfer Richie Delgado and sophomore Adrian Laygo.

They were unable to get on track against Chapman losing their matches handily in both sets.

“I think we played better,” said junior co-captain Kyle Fournier.

“But, this is a better team than Biola and we saw that today,” Fournier added.

In their next match, the Leopards faced Whittier, who had also previously beaten Biola in their first game of the year.

For the Leopards, newcomer Sebastian Duroux earned the team’s first win in his singles match and teamed up with Laygo for another victory in their doubles match.

Unfortunately, La Verne was outplayed by the Poets in the end resulting in a defeat, 2-7.

Despite the 0-3 start, the Leopards are growing as the season progresses and continue to take strides towards consistency and victories in the future.

In addition, several new faces along with three returnees from last season will be instrumental to the Leopards’ success throughout the season.

“It’s kind of scary having only three returners,” Weedon said.

“But at the same time, the new guys are stepping it up and learning along the way,” Weedon added.

The Leopards will have another opportunity to capture their first victory today against Cal Lutheran at 2 p.m. in their fourth home game of the season.

Following their match against Cal Lu, the Leopards will go on the road for a non-conference game against Redlands.

After Redlands, the team will then return back home for three more SCIAC league matches against La Sierra, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Hope International.

Galo Pesantes can be reached at gpesantes@ulv.edu.