Men's Tennis finishes season with high hopes for next year
Whittier College men's tennis is coming off of one of their most
successful seasons in years. Despite a humble 6-19 overall record,
the Poets went 3-7 in conference and finished 6th
overall, their best effort in over a decade. Also, their strength
of schedule was second to none with over half of their opponents
ranked within the top thirty in the nation.
Long considered one of the toughest Division III conferences in the
nation, the Poets struggled against nationally ranked SCIAC
opponents, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (3rd) and Redlands
(7th), but more than held their own against the other
five teams in the conference. The team scored wins over La Verne
and Caltech and passed them in the overall standings, after being
swept by both teams a year ago. They also avoided shutouts from
nationally ranked Cal Lutheran and Occidental losing 7-2.
The team was anchored by top two singles players and number one
doubles team, freshmen Justin DeLong and
Sean Robertson. The pair led the team in overall
singles and doubles victories. DeLong also reached the round of 16
at the season ending tournament in Ojai. He was just two match wins
away from qualifying for nationals and achieving All-American
status. The Poets also scored key wins from freshman Danny
Benesch and senior Joseph Choi.
The future of the program continues to look bright. DeLong and
Robertson will be joined next year by three additional commits for
the fall '07, all of whom figure to be instant impact players.
Nearly three quarters of the line-up in '07-'08 will consist of
first and second year players, making the Poets the youngest team
in the conference by far.
In addition to being young and talented, the team competes the
"right way." They won Sportsmanship Team of the Year as voted by
the coaches in SCIAC. "It makes my job that much more fun to be
able to work with guys I sincerely like and want to see do well,"
Coach Bojalad reflects. "We are putting together a tight knit group
of guys that are instantly gelling, and they can play. We are now
at the point where we can compete with anyone on our schedule."
With a more experienced team coupled with the talented additions to
the roster, the men look to close the gap on the top teams in the
conference and score some wins over top 30 ranked Cal Lu,
Occidental and Pomona-Pitzer, all of which graduate many of their
key players. "The last two years we have not measured our success
by wins and losses but rather how well we competed and improved.
Expectations will be considerably higher next year," Bojalad
projects.
