Sept. 24, 2004
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The Santa Clara University's men's and women's tennis teams will appear in their first tournaments of the season beginning Friday and continuing through the weekend. The men will travel to Stockton and be among five squads to participate in the Tiger Fall Classic, hosted by the University of the Pacific at the Hal Nelson Tennis Courts. The women will head to the Wathan Tennis Center to play in the 10th annual Bulldog Classic, hosted by Fresno State. Seven other teams, including San Jose State, Pacific and Cal Poly, will be sending players to this tournament.
The Bronco men have traditionally done well at this event, with Kevin McQuaid taking singles and doubles titles as a freshman last season. Unable to defend his title this fall due to injury, the Broncos will look to senior Taylor Bedilion, who won here in 2002 in singles and in 2003 in doubles, as well as senior Francisco Zepponi, who won a singles title here as a freshman in 2001.
"We've had good practices leading up to this event and we're looking forward to the opportunity for everybody top play a lot of matches," head coach George Husack said. "We can fare well this weekend."
Players will compete in three singles and three doubles flights. Senior Eric Kochanski and freshman Tyler Wilson earned top-seeded slots in singles, while Jan Macek/Bedilion and Ben Hidalgo/Bobby Rasmussen will play as No. 1 seeds in the doubles bracket.
Six players will travel on the women's side. Seniors Janalle Kaloi and Catherine Cochrane, who have been selected to the pre-qualifying singles draw of the 2004 Riviera/ITA Women's All-American Championships, will lead the squad in Fresno. Sophomores Erika Barnes and Kelly Leathers, who have earned a pre-qualifying doubles spot, will also be playing this weekend.
Looking forward to his first year with the women's tennis team, head coach Damon Coupe said he hopes to see more than just wins this weekend. "I just want to see them compete and execute what we have been working on in practices."
After competing this weekend, the women's team will continue preparing for their 2005 season in which it will face six top-75 finishers from 2004. Throughout these events, Coupe said his goal for the season is to "giving ourselves the confidence of knowing we can go out and play anyone. It not only builds confidence within each individual but also among teammates."