Tennis finishes fifth place in SCIAC

by Amanda Egan
Staff Writer

Men's tennis competed in the SCIAC championships last weekend and placed fifth overall, gaining two wins.

"Everybody played well, they were all inspired," head coach Steve Bergovoy said.

The SCIAC championships consist of each conference team and were held at Claremont Mudd-Scripps this year.

The event took place last Friday and Saturday with conference competition at its best as each team was competing for the top spot.

In the first match on Friday, La Verne lost a close one to Cal Lutheran that put ULV out of the running for one of the top three spots.

La Verne defeated Whittier easily in their semi-final match, 7-0.

"We beat them up in conference, then we beat them up again in the tournament," Bergovoy said.

No. 1 doubles players Josh Horwitz and Chad Rodriguez defeated Whittier 8-3.

They are currently ranked 13th in the nation as a doubles team.

No. 2 doubles players Kiran Asola and Jarrod Hesler shutout the Poets, 8-0.

Each singles team gained a victory over their opponent easily, as ULV shutdown Whittier.

After defeating Whittier, La Verne went on to face Occidental on Saturday in a final match that determined fifth and sixth place.

Oxy put up a fight but La Verne overpowered and beat the Tigers, 5-2.

Singles players Horwitz, Rodriguez, Todd Hurst and Asola each gained a win for the Leos in singles play.

All three doubles teams knocked any chance out for Oxy when they defeated all three teams.

That win placed La Verne fifth in the tournament.

"We were shooting for the top three, but we realized how much depth all of the teams had this year," Bergovoy said.

The top three spots belong to Redlands, Claremont and Cal Lu.

La Verne is currently in Ojai competing in the Regional Championship.

ULV is ranked 13th overall in the West region. They finished conference 3-4 and are currently 9-10 overall.