April 18, 2007

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Solid Energy and Resilient Play Highlight Regular Season...
The season always seems to fly by. What began last January at the SDSU Invite came to a celebratory conclusion on April 15 as two Bronco seniors, Jan Macek and Bobby Rasmussen, led SCU to a Senior Day doubleheader sweep of #5 UC San Diego (Div II) and #74 Sacramento State. Overall, the past four months of Bronco tennis have been extremely rewarding and filled with many notable accomplishments. Since the last issue of Netscoop, Santa Clara continued it's red hot play and won 16 of their final 18 dual matches...the only blemishes being a pair of narrow 4-3 defeats to Cornell and 17-time national champion Stanford. Over a one week period, the Broncos traveled to USF, Saint Mary's and Cal Poly and collected three consecutive victories. This marked the second consecutive season that SCU swept USF and the first time in history that they defeated Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo. Santa Clara faced BYU and Harvard following each team's impressive wins at Stanford...the Cougars and Crimson, however, would not have the same luck on the Mission Campus, as the Broncos delivered each opponent a resounding defeat. Health was an important factor in keeping the squad fresh and ready to compete throughout a demanding schedule. Bobby Rasmussen, Robert Gallman and Kevin McQuaid suffered a few injuries, however, sophomore Kenzo Hirakawa-Wong and freshmen Steven Benvenuto and Joe Galbraith seized their opportunity and delivered in fine fashion. Jay Wong matched former Bronco Francisco Zepponi's record for singles wins in a season (30) and the Broncos earned a first-ever #2 seed in the WCC Championships. With the biggest event on the Bronco horizon, the focus was to keep things rolling from San Diego to the NCAAs.

Alumni Reunion Serves Up Plenty Of Excitement...
Former players and coaches came to campus with family and friends to celebrate the 2nd annual Men's Tennis Alumni Reunion (Pictured at left: Erich Chen '04 stands alongside Francisco Zepponi '05, Eric Kochanski '05, Bobby Rasmussen '07, Taylor Bedilion '05 & Adam Lewis '03). Following a tasty bbq sponsored by Taylor Bedilion and Wachovia Bank, the group was treated to another thrilling match between Santa Clara and Harvard.

The IVY League powerhouse returned to SCU for the first time since March 2000, when the Broncos pulled off a stunning 4-3 upset of the 27th-ranked Crimson. This season the excitement was much the same. Santa Clara used a quick start in doubles to take an early 1-0 lead as Jan Macek and Kevin McQuaid led the charge at the no. 1 position with an impressive performance over Ashwin Kumar and Sasha Ermakov (2006 NCAA doubles participants).

In singles action, Harvard regrouped and jumped ahead 2-1. In fact, early scores indicated that the Crimson were on their way to victory. Brian Brogan and Jay Wong, however, had different plans, as they pushed the Broncos back in front 3-2 with two matches left to play. Macek pushed his opponent to a third set on court one, while Tommy Hicks trailed 5-1 in a 2nd set tiebreaker. With the crowd cheering on the sophomore from Northeast Portland, Hicks clawed his way back into the match and stole the tiebreak 7-5. In the third and decisive set, Hicks trailed 4-1, 40-love, but once again fought off defeat and clinched the Bronco victory with a spectacular 1-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 triumph. The team stormed the court and celebrated while Macek gratefully retired from his match with body cramps. A fantastic finish to a celebratory day and another thriller for the record books.

Bronco Bits...
The Bronco Pro-Am Invitational has been rescheduled for Sunday, June 10...Invitations will be sent out in a week's time...Three Broncos recorded GPAs above a 3.5 during the winter quarter: Bobby Rasmussen (3.70), Robert Gallman (3.56) and Jan Macek (3.42)...March & April Bronco birthdays include Robert Gallman(Mar 14), Erich Chen '04(Apr 9) & Federico Mattioli '03(Apr 15)...Ryan Livesay has moved back to the west coast after spending the past year in New York as a hedge fund trader...Joe McCarthy '70 is a proud grandfather of Matthew McCarthy who was born on March 18 and weighed 7lbs, 14ounces...Matt Panuwat '99 currently works for Merrill Lynch in their Healthcare Investment Banking division in San Francisco...'P-Nut' earned his MBA from UCLA last June and he and his wife Cambria are proud parents of daughter Camille...According to Matt, Camille is showing signs of being a lefty and he said that he can't wait to show her the can opener serve or the ridiculous buggy whip forehand...Lars Nelson '00 has accepted a Regional Sales Manager position with Pensar Corporation in San Diego...Lars also announced that his wife Ali is expecting a second child due in early September...We'll see you at the Pro-Am in June!

Junior Sectionals To Santa Clara...
Northern California's largest junior tournament, the Boys & Girls 18s Sectional Championships will be held at SCU this June 18-24. Close to 300 players are expected to compete in the event. Volunteers are definitely needed. If interested, please contact the tennis office for more deatails.

SCHEDULE CHANGE!
Bronco Pro-Am Invitational now being held on Sunday, June 10 at 2pm.

Meet Steven Benvenuto...
Year: Freshman
Major: Business
Home: San Mateo, CA
Nickname: 'Ben-ven'
Favorite Food: Pasta
Least Fav: Mustard
Place I frequent on campus: The Bronco
A Favorite film: The Godfather series
Pump up song: "Too Hard" by Mac-Dre
Without tennis, I'd be: Lost

Silver Racquet Club Honor Roll
The SRC is inching it's way closer to its ultimate goal of $35,000. Go Broncos!

Total SRC Support (as of 4/17/07): $23,741.00
SRC Support (as of last Netscoop): $18,725.00
SRC Funding Increase: $5,016.00

Bronco Grand Slam Members
Chris (1990) & Kathryn Eppright
John E. Giacomazzi (1952)
Jim (1983) & Cristin Laccabue
Michael D. Naumes (1968)
Pebble Beach Company
Scott (1982) & Nora Ritchey
The Speramus Foundation
Tennis Development
The Testwuide Family

Bronco Grand Prix Members
John (1975) & Aida (1977) Galbraith
David & Anne Hicks (son Tommy, 2009)
Joseph (1970) & Susan (1976) McCarthy
Joseph Scalmanini (1967)

Bronco Challenger Members
David & Annie Bell (1972)
Ryan K. Buell (2001)
Erich Chen (2004)
Dorothea & Wesley French
Gerald & Seiko Lu (son David, 1991)
Albert H. Martin (1949)
The Schrup Family (John,1975)
David & Christine Taylor
Scott (2000) & Katrina Watters
Don & Peg Redmon
Tony Ventura (MBA, 1970)
Henry T. Yamate (1952)
Dave P. Zahn (1994)

Bronco Satellite Members
Gia M. Biagi (1993)
Theodore Blosser (2006)
Matt & Jan Fick
Alan C. Freeland (son Ben, 1995)
Annie M. Husack
Edward M. Kelly (1939)
John & April King
Joseph M. Lucero
Brien O'Connell
Richard Snyder (son Jeff, 1996)
Jeff Taylor & Vienna Sivilay