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Nov. 11, 2004

Bronco Boot Camp Kicks Off New Season...
Following a long summer of recruiting, summer camps, tournaments and vacationing, the Broncos began their 2004-2005 campaign with Bronco Boot Camp one week prior to the start of school. An intense session of training, 'boot camp' consisted of a team retreat to beautiful Lake Tahoe, opening practice at Midnight Madness and plenty of double-session workouts to get everyone focused on the coming year. Santa Clara welcomed five newcomers to the program including sophomore transfer Jan Macek (formerly at University of Southern Mississippi by way of Zolling, Germany) and freshmen Chris Iwamura (Honolulu, HI), AJ Kerin (Saratoga, CA), Blane Shields (Novato, CA) and Tyler Wilson (Medford, OR). The Broncos also introduced a pair of new assistant coaches in recent graduate and All-WCC standout, Erich Chen, and former ATP touring professional, Brian Eagle (see Bronco Bits section for departed staff). The annual trip to Lake Tahoe gave players and coaches the opportunity to discuss thoughts and goals for the upcoming season, compete against one another in a few friendly games and share many stories and laughs. The Broncos then returned from the mountains in time for their own version of "Midnight Madness". The traditional opening practice began at 10 p.m. Wednesday night and concluded a few minutes past midnight Thursday morning.

"This was a great week for all of us," head coach George Husack commented. "The Tahoe trip gave everyone a chance to get to know each other and the opportunity for the new Broncos to learn what Santa Clara tennis is all about. The midnight practice was intense, and by the looks of the players' T-shirts, a very good workout."

The Broncos began fall quarter classes after a week of boot camp and enjoyed their first day in school with a well deserved day off practice.

Bronco Fall Tournament Season...
An all-SCU final in the Flight A and B doubles events at the UOP Tiger Classic kicked off a successful tournament campaign for the Broncos this fall. Senior Taylor Bedilion teamed with Jan Macek to defeat seniors Francisco Zepponi and Eric Kochanski 8-6 in the Flight A final, while freshmen AJ Kerin and Tyler Wilson tallied a similar score over Ben Hidalgo and Bobby Rasmussen in the Flight B final. Kerin also captured the Flight C singles crown, marking the third time in four years Santa Clara had earned top honors in that division.

Macek and Bedilion traveled to Chattanooga, Tennessee to compete in the ITA All-American Championships. Both players played solid tennis reaching the third round in both singles and doubles. Upon their return, Santa Clara hosted the first SCU Bronco Classic. Formerly known as the Bulldog Classic, the event was moved to the Mission Campus following personnel changes at Fresno State. Stanford, Cal, Washington and Oregon were among the thirteen teams participating in the three-day tournament. Hidalgo and Rasmussen continued their winning ways and defeated Linas Cicenas and Carlos Malet of Loyola Marymount in the Flight B doubles final. The tandem used a high first serve percentage and effective net movement en route to the victory. Senior Kochanski rebounded after a tough 3-set opening round defeat and tallied four singles wins to garner Flight B Consolation honors.

The fourth and final event of the fall was the ITA Regional Championships hosted by the University of California. Senior Zepponi scored a pair of impressive singles victories, before falling to eventual regional champion Sven Swinnen of Oregon.

Scholar-Athlete of the Week......
A perennial academic award honoree, senior Ben Hidalgo was named Applebee's Bronco Scholar-Athlete of the Week during the fourth week of the fall quarter. He took time out from his grocery shopping duties to pose shirtless with a cashier at Safeway in Lake Tahoe - a Bronco tradition made famous by Santa Clara graduate Marcell "The Body" Hlousek. Ben is in his final year of studies in the Leavey School of Business and will earn his MBA next June.

Bronco Bits......
Santa Clara said farewell and good luck to assistant coches Marcell Hlousek and Brett Masi..."The Body" is enjoying life as a Santa Clara firefighter and the comforts of his newly purchased home in Willow Glen, while "Mace" returned to Southern California and announced his engagement to girlfriend Desiree Wood...the couple will be married on January 16, 2005...Assistant coach Brian Eagle currently owns and operates Tennis Development, a junior tennis academy in the South Bay Area...he and business partner, Nick Fustar, helped co-direct a very successful Santa Clara tennis camp program this past summer...735 Institution, former Bronco Rick Ruso's band, continues to perform at local establishments in the Bay Area...SCU women's tennis welcomed their new head coach, Damon Coupe, to campus this summer...Bronco birthdays this fall included Tyler Wilson (Sept 5), Ben Hidalgo (Sept 9), Taylor Bedilion (10/22), George Husack (10/25) & Eric Kochanski (11/8).