Men's tennis places fifth in tournament, readies for Ojai

by Lacy Cascadden
Staff Writer

The University of La Verne men's tennis team finished its season last weekend at the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament at Whittier College with a fifth-place finish in the tournament.

In its final match of the conference tournament, ULV faced off against California Institute of Technology Saturday.

ULV lost to Cal Tech earlier in the season, 4-3.

After finishing sixth throughout regular season play, ULV pulled off a 6-1 victory over the Beavers, placing fifth in the tournament.

"They went out with revenge in their eyes," said head coach Steve Bergovoy.

In addition to an exciting win over Cal Tech, Alvaro Alvarez won his first conference doubles match, 8-5.

Josh Martin also pulled in a win at No. 4 singles, 6-0, 6-1.

Friday, the Leopards went up against the University of Redlands.

Juniors Chad Rodriguez and Jason Cortez pulled out what the coaches are calling the "biggest upset of the season in Division III tennis."

Cortez and Rodriguez defeated Redlands' No. 1 doubles, Brian Murphy and Rob Candiotty, with a fantastic 8-6 win over the duo, which is ranked in the top five nationally in doubles.

In singles, the Bulldogs are nationally ranked in the top 30.

Cortez and Rodriguez, who were not originally paired as a doubles team, were able to beat the undefeated duo, which gave the Leopard pair possible consideration for nationals.

"It went well," Cortez said. "We did a lot better than expected on a personal level."

"Jason really found himself in singles and doubles this year," Bergovoy said. "The team overcame a lot. We are taking a step in the right direction."

ULV's top players, Cortez, Rodriguez and Josh Horwitz, will travel to Ojai this weekend to compete in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Tournament.

Cortez and Rodriguez will play doubles and are expected to do very well, said Bergovoy.

This weekend's win ranks Cortez and Rodriguez high in the Ojai tournament.

"Chad and I are going to win the tournament," Cortez said. "And Chad and Josh are going to do very well in singles."

The first match Friday in the SCIAC tournament was against Occidental College, which the Leopards won, 4-1.

Martin had a great win at No. 4 singles, 6-1, 7-5.

Overall, it was a great season for the team.

It has only been four months since their season began, but the Leopards have made leaps and bounds as individuals and as a team.

ULV will only lose one senior player. Hugo Valencia will graduate this spring.

In addition, there is a chance that No. 1 player Chad Rodriguez may not return due to early graduation in the fall. Despite the minor changes to the line up, most players will return next year.

"There are a lot of expectations for next year. I hope things go smoother than this year," Cortez said. "There is a lot of potential for next year with upcoming players."