Tennis mauled by Bulldogs, 7-0

photo by Peter Schupmann

Concentrating in his second set, sophomore singles player Jason Cortez volleys for a hard-fought point. Cortez lost his match 6-1, 6-3, as La Verne lost to Redlands, 7-0. The Leopards will match up against Cal Lutheran today at home.

by Matt Paulson
Staff Writer

The University of La Verne men's tennis team dropped to .500 in both season and conference play last Saturday at the Blickenstaff Tennis Pavilion when they were shutout by Redlands, 7-0.

The Leopards now stand at 3-3 for the regular season and hold a record of 2-2 in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play.

The top seed for ULV, sophomore Josh Horwitz provided the most impressive Leopard singles performance, losing 4-6 and 3-6 to Redlands' Rob Condiotly.

Horwitz and his partner, the second seed for ULV in singles, Chad Rodriguez, battled to a tight 6-8 loss in doubles to Condiotly and Redlands' third seed: Marco Bravo.

Head coach Steve Bergovoy expressed that Horwitz and Rodriguez's match could have gone in favor of ULV if only a few points had fallen their way.

"We played well overall. At least we gave them a good fight," said Horwitz.

"I thought we played well. I think we could have done better, but they're pretty good," echoed Jarrod Hesler.

The Redlands Bulldogs finished No. 3 in the nation last year as a team and is currently 6-0 in SCIAC with an overall record of 11-2.

Bergovoy credited ULV's loss to the experience of the Redlands squad, which "strengthens their armor" when they face relatively inexperienced opponents such as the Leopards.

"Better experience carried them through these matches. The key thing is that they play a much deeper schedule," said Bergovoy.

He continued to explain that because Redlands only plays one match against certain teams in SCIAC, they hold the ability to "fill their schedule with top Division III and Division II teams, which is smart."

As a team, Horwitz articulated that the men's squad has commendable team unity, saying, "We're all on the same page at all times."

Hugo Valencia expressed that, to be competitors, the Leopards must "keep the ball in play and be mentally tough. We start getting negative and getting disappointed, and we lose."

The men's tennis team believes that in order to beat teams of the Bulldogs' caliber, it must display a more consistent work ethic in practice.

"Their work ethic must be a notch or two higher. Until we get there, we're going to be a step lower. We have the skills to beat these teams; I believe that from the bottom of my heart," Bergovoy said.

"We need to be more serious at practice. If we practice better, we can probably do better in matches," said Horwitz.

Bergovoy compares the Leopards' situation to that of David and Goliath.He says that they just need to believe in their abilities and they will be able to take down the larger powers.

"I have to instill in them an inner belief. It'll come together; it'll just take time."

The next match for the Leopards is today against Cal Lutheran at 2 p.m. at the Blickenstaff Tennis Pavilion.