Jan. 13, 2004
SKILLMAN, N.J. - Santa Clara University men's tennis student-athletes Gernot Fischer and Eric Kochanski have been ranked 49th nationally by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association in the organization's preseason rankings. The listing follows the duo's preseason ranking of ninth for the West Region, released in December.
Both Broncos are transfers to the program. Fischer is a senior from Freising, Germany, who transferred to the mission campus after three seasons at Tennessee Tech, where we was named the Ohio Valley Conference 2003 Player of the Year.
Kochanski is a junior from Canonsburg, Pa., who transferred from West Virginia. Kochanski led the Mountaineers last season at the No. 1 singles and doubles positions.
The duo went 4-2 during fall play, and became the first Bronco tandem to advance to a regional championship, when they earned a berth in the final at the ITA Regional, hosted by the University of Oregon in October. The pair defeated fifth-seeded Quinn Borchard and Roman Borvanov of Portland and third-seeded Thomas Bieri and Manuel Kost of Oregon en route to the finals, where they dropped a hard-fought match to the No. 1 seeded duo of Alex Slovic and Alex Vlaski of Washington.
"This is quite an accomplishment considering the Eric and Gernot were opponents last year while competing at different schools," head coach George Husack said of the tandem in December. "I'm excited to see them in the upcoming dual match season as they are anxious to get things rolling again after their success at the regional.
"They've got a solid arsenal in doubles," Husack continued. "Big serves, solid returns and lots of net movement. It's pretty impressive to see how well they complement each other despite only playing very little together in the fall. I believe their relationship off the courts and mutual respect for each other has contributed to their success."
Please visit itatennis.com for a complete listing of national team, singles and doubles rankings.
Fischer and Kochanski are only the second Bronco doubles tandem to receive a national preseason ranking, following Rick Ruso and Chris Lam's No. 53 listing prior to the start of the 2002 season.
The spring campaign opens Saturday, when Santa Clara hosts a doubleheader at the SCU Tennis Center. First serve against UC Santa Cruz will be at 10 a.m., while the second match against UC Davis is slated for 2:30 p.m.