Oct. 21, 2009

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - This weekend the Santa Clara men's tennis team begins its fall tournament season at the NCAA Regional Tournament in Berkeley, Calif. This will be the Broncos' first time out this fall and the first test for an entirely new team. With seven new additions to the team, including the 15th ranked freshman recruiting class in the country, the Broncos have high expectations for this weekend's effort.

"We are one of the only teams in our regional that has not been out in tournament play yet. We will be competing with guys from top teams in our regional, like Stanford, Cal, University of Washington, and University of San Francisco. This is going to be a good barometer of where the team is at and a test to see what we need to work on," said Santa Clara head coach Derek Mills.

Seniors Jay Wong and Brian Bogan, along with sophomore Kyle Dandan, return as the foundation to this new SCU team. Newcomers include sophomore transfers Andrew Kells from the NCAA National Champion University of Southern California and Colonial Athletic Association Freshman of the Year Nicolas Vinel from Virginia Commonwealth University. Rounding out the new Bronco team are five freshman that make up the nation's 15th ranked recruiting class: Nick Buckley, Grant Fleming, Eugene Muchynski, Tom Pham, and Mauricio Villa.

"We have an entirely new team this year and high expectations for the fall season. We are looking to improve every day and are excited to start tournament play," said Mills. "This is an exciting time in Santa Clara tennis."

The Broncos begin NCAA Regional play on Friday, October 23 in Berkeley, Calif. The tournament continues through Tuesday, October 27. Results and updates will be posted throughout the weekend.