SANTA CLARA, Calif. – This season has been one of many, many firsts for the Bronco men's tennis team. On Thursday, a few more firsts came about. The Intercollegiate Tennis Association announced its final rankings for the year and the No. 33 Santa Clara men's tennis squad added more program bests. When the ITA released its final singles and doubles rankings, as well as regional rankings, Santa Clara added more program highs to an already splendid season, including a No. 5 finish in the Northwest Region.
In the final singles rankings, Santa Clara had its two highest ranked players ever in a season-ending ranking. Both Kyle Dandan and John Lamble finished in the Top-100.
Dandan finishes his career ranked No. 95 nationally. In his final season as a Bronco, Dandan capped off a phenomenal career by picking up First Team All-WCC singles honors and an Honorable Mention nod in doubles. Santa Clara's No. 1 singles player was ranked as high as No. 68 by the ITA, the highest-ever individual ranking for a Santa Clara player. Dandan played as the Broncos No. 1 singles player all season and picked up huge wins for Santa Clara. The senior continually saw opponents' best players, playing nine ranked opponents during the 2011-12 season. One of his best wins was against Cal Poly's Andre Dome, who was ranked No. 20 at the time.
On the season Dandan was 18-10 as a singles player. In doubles, Dandan appeared most frequently with junior Tom Pham as the No. 2 tandem. The duos 26 career victories puts that at third all-time in school history. Dandan was also First Team All-WCC last year. He is the first player since Lars Nelson in 1999-2000 to be named All-WCC First Team in back-to-back seasons (only two players in school history). Dandan was Honorable Mention his sophomore year.
In the final rankings, Lamble finished as the highest-ranked SCU player ever in a final poll, although Dandan remains the highest in school history. The sophomore finishes the year at No. 77. He had a team-high 25 wins this season, including two marquee wins in the NCAA tournament against then-No. 101 Daniel Whitehead and then-No. 27 Ryan Thacher. During his sophomore year, Lamble cemented himself as one of the Broncos' top players. Playing behind Dandan, Lamble was a mainstay as the No. 2 singles player.
Lamble ended the season with a team-best 25 wins. The sophomore from Saratoga, Calif. jumped into the ITA's singles ranking at No. 123 late in the season. Lamble strung together six consecutive wins during the month of April. For his outstanding play as the Broncos' No. 2 singles player, Lamble garnered Second Team All-WCC singles accolades. At his current pace, Lamble is one of two Broncos on track to break the school's all-time wins record. The Broncos highest ranked Santa Clara player ever to finish a season will take his talents to France this summer. Click here to read more about Lamble's upcoming summer in France.
Santa Clara grabbed more national recognition in doubles. Lamble and Ilya Osintsev finished the season as the No. 68 doubles tandem in the ITA national rankings. Lamble and Osintsev gave the Broncos a youthful No. 1 team that was ranked for a majority of the season. They received Second Team-All WCC honors and were named the WCC Doubles Players of the Month during March.
Regionally, the ITA acknowledged Santa Clara's outstanding season by ranking them as the No. 5 team the Northwest Region.
In the regional individual rankings, Lamble and Dandan again picked up accolades. The two Broncos finished back-to-back. Dandan was ranked the No. 9 player in the region, while Lamble finished at No. 10.
In doubles, Osintsev and Lamble grabbed a No. 8 regional ranking.