SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The Santa Clara men's tennis team will finish up its fall season at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's Regional Championships. The tournament features the top teams and players in the region with all five of the Santa Clara players participating.
This Week
Oct. 19-23
Intercollgiate Regional Championship • Moraga, Calif. (Saint Mary's College)
The Broncos
So far this fall, the Bronco highlights have been Tom Pham's semifinal appearance at the Aggie Invitational and John Lamble's selection into the Main Draw at the ITA All-American Championships.
With his semifinal appearance, Pham (pictured) has a team-high three wins early in the fall season. Pham - a senior from San Diego, Calif. - is trying to win 20-plus matches for the fourth consecutive season
Lamble, who is ranked No. 40 in singles, dropped both matches at the All-American Championships which featured some of the top talent in the country. He lost his Main Draw match to the nation's No. 10-ranked player. His Main Draw selection was the first in Santa Clara history. Moreover, his No. 40 preseason ranking is the highest preseason ranking in program history.
ITA Regionals
For the first time this fall, all five of the Broncos will compete in the same tournament. Two Santa Clara players enter the ITA Regionals as seeded players and will receive first-round byes. Lamble is the tournament's No. 3 seed, while Ilya Osintsev is the No. 7 seed. Both will start competing in the Round of 64. Their fellow teammates will begin play in the Round of 128 as follows:
Round of 128
Eugene Muchynski vs. Daniel Alameh (Pacific)
Matt Kecki vs. Jeff Mullen (Oregon)
Tom Pham vs. Alex Ferrero (Portland)
Santa Clara will also field two doubles teams for the tournament. The Broncos' top duo of Lamble and Osintsev, who are ranked No. 30 in the country, are the tournament's No. 2 seeded team. They will receive a bye in the first round, the Round of 64. The other duo, Pham and Kecki, will begin play in the first round.
Doubles Round of 64
Kecki/Pham vs. Stinemann/Kehrer (Stanford)
Dynamic Duo
The Santa Clara doubles tandem of Osintsev and Lamble comes into the year at No. 30 in the nation. The duo played as the Broncos' No.1 doubles pairing last season earning an end of the year ranking of No. 68 and a regional rank of No. 8. The two Broncos were recognized as Second Team All-WCC performers in doubles and were picked as the WCC Doubles Players of the Month in March after upsetting the country's No. 2-ranked tandem.
The two Broncos have yet to play together this fall with Lamble playing at the All-American and Osintsev playing at the Aggie Invitational. They will pair up at the ITA Regional.
Last Year at the ITA Regionals
Last year, the Broncos amassed a 6-3 singles record at the ITA Regional. Of the returning players, Lamble reached the Round of 16, while Pham picked up a win in the Round of 32. Santa Clara was 1-1 in doubles.
New Assistant Coach
The Broncos welcomed a new assistant, Rudolf Siwy, this off-season. The former Fresno State player won the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year in 2009. After finishing his career at Fresno State, he began to coach with Brad Stine, a former coach of the ATP No. 1 Jim Courier, at the Stine 360 Tennis Academy in Fresno, Calif. While coaching with Stine, Stine also served as Siwy's coach as he pursued his tennis career. Siwy quickly became the No. 1 player in the Norcal Men's Open Division. In Feb. 2011, Siwy began playing on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), the largest and most recognized professional tennis circuit in the world. He earned his first ATP points at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells after winning five matches in the pre-qualifying, eventually losing to Donald Young 6-3, 7-6 in the last round of qualifying.
ITA RANKINGS
The Broncos currently have two ITA ranked singles players and a ranked doubles team in the latest ITA rankings (preseason rankings):
-No. 40 John Lamble
-No. 103 Ilya Osintsev
-No. 30 John Lamble/Ilya Osintsev (Doubles).
All-Time Highs/Program Firsts
After last season, in which the Broncos had the most impressive season in school history, the Broncos continue to top program bests. This fall Santa Clara added to that list with the following:
-Highest Ranked Player in ITA Preseason Poll: No. 40 John Lamble
-First Player Selected to ITA All-American Main Draw: John Lamble
Track the Broncos at the ITA Regionals
For coverage of the ITA Regionals please check back to SantaClaraBroncos.com daily for results on all five of the Bronco players. Additionally, make sure to follow Santa Clara Men's Tennis on Facebook.