Season Review: Poets post best season in WC history

WHITTIER, Calif. - The Whittier College men's tennis team completed its best season in program's history in 2009 as the Poets went 15-7, finished fifth in the conference, had one selection to the All-Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference second-team and ranked as high as No. 12 in the West Region.

"This was in fact our best season in Whittier tennis history and that is reflected in our winning record and regional ranking," said head coach David Bojalad who completed his fourth season in '09.  "We did finish a modest fifth in the conference and the main reason being the top four teams in the conference are ranked nationally. SCIAC is considered to best Division III tennis conference in the country. Our 10-2 non-conference record supports this."

Junior Sean Robertson earned the all-conference bid for the Poets after he competed for all but one match at the No. 1 singles position. Robertson accumulated an even 10-10 singles record and went 10-11 at No. 1 doubles with his partner Justin DeLong.

The Union, Ky., went undefeated in singles play throughout the SCIAC Tournament and earned a 6-3, 7-6(4) win over Mike Kuhn of Occidental to secure his place on the all-conference team.

"Sean had a strong year for us at number one," said Bojalad. "He beat the players he should have and lost to players who were favored to beat him. His best wins came against Occidental's number one players Reid Fenning and Mike Kuhn. He also beat Caltech's number one twice, Sam Barnett who is a very strong player."

Freshman Frank Sun had arguably the best season as he went 16-4 in singles play (7-2 at No. 5 and 8-2 at No. 6). He won his first 14 singles matches of his collegiate career before his undefeated streak came to an end to Division II Francis Marion University. FMU ranked No. 11 at the time of his loss.

Fellow freshman Patricio Carregha was mainly used at No. 3 singles for the Poets as he recorded an 11-8 record. He also won his only matches at No. 2 singles and No. 4 singles.

"Patricio and Frank were two of our best players this year," said Bojalad. "I would also include Gavin Smith as an impact freshman for us. Little separates our one and six, and because of this, the deeper in the line-up we get, the stronger we are against the opposition."

"Frank had great wins this year against No. 5 Amherst, No. 3 CMS, and No. 29 Pomona-Pitzer. Patricio had great success against Pomona-Pitzer this year. He defeated Udah Singh during the regular season this year 6-2, 7-6 and during SCIAC he was beating second-team all-conference player Nick Tagliarino 6-2, 2-0 before it was called due to the overall match being clinched," said Bojalad.

Overall the purple and gold went 79-49 in singles play and held a 19-23 SCIAC record. Whittier dominated at No. 6 singles with an overall mark of 17-4. Taylor Dimler (5-1), Ryan Johnson (1-0), Denis Minaev (1-0) and Gavin Smith (1-1) joined Sun at the No. 6 spot.

The Poets also had success at No. 4 singles where they went 14-8. Senior Lance Franey led the charge with an 11-8 record as Carregha (1-0) and Smith (2-0) each earned wins at No. 4 as well. Franey also played at No. 3 singles (1-0) and No. 5 singles (1-0) to accumulate the second best singles record. He and Carregha each went 13-8 on the year.

Doubles play was equally impressive as WC went 41-25. Robertson and DeLong played 21 matches at No. 1 doubles and came away with 10 wins. DeLong went 12-9 at No. 2 singles.

Carregha and Franey had the best mark in doubles play with a 14-6 record at No. 2 and Smith and Sun went 11-7 at No. 3 doubles.

Whittier's season saw win streaks of four and five games, respectively, and featured nine wins by the score of 9-0 and 8-1.

The Poets also had a first on the last day of February as they had a double-header in different locations. WC started off with a conference match at Occidental before it returned home to host St. John's (Minn.). The Poets earned a 6-3 win over the Tigers and completed the sweep with a 7-2 victory over St. John's.

Whittier earned the No. 5 seed in the conference tournament and lost in the first round to the fourth seeded, and No. 29 nationally ranked, Sagehens. WC rebounded with a quick 9-0 win over Caltech and held on for a 5-4 win over Occidental in the fifth place game.

"Our goal this year was to pass Occidental in the standings and distance ourselves from La Verne and Caltech; both of which were accomplished," said Bojalad. "However, after our near upset of No. 29 Pomona-Pitzer we quickly reevaluated our goals. We were determined to defeat Pomona-Pitzer in the conference tournament but we came up short. That was disappointing."

Match of the Year
February 20, 2009 ∙ Whittier, Calif.
Pomona-Pitzer 5, Whittier 4
Whittier entered the game as winners of its first three matches of the year but were seen as the heavy underdog against perennial power, Pomona-Pitzer. Much to the surprise of the visiting Sagehens the Poets were able to steal two of the three singles matches to hold a 2-1 advantage as the teams headed into singles competition.

The No. 1 doubles team of Sean Robertson and Justin DeLong rolled to an 8-1 victory and the No. 3 doubles team of Gavin Smith and Frank Sun won 8-4.

The Poets' lead was short lived as then-No. 30 Pomona-Pitzer won 6-1, 6-1 at No. 1 singles and 6-3, 6-3 at No. 4 singles.

Freshman Frank Sun improved his individual record to 4-0 with a 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 6 singles

 Patricio Carregha rebounded from a tough loss at No. 2 doubles with a 6-2, 7-6(1) win at No. 3 singles. The win gave Whittier a 4-3 lead with two matches still being played.

Smith won his first set, 6-3, at No. 5 singles but lost consecutive matches at 6-2 to which tied the overall score at 4-4.

DeLong face a 2008 second-team all-conference selection with the match on the line and he came away with a first set win, 6-4. Pomona's Nick Tagliarino evened the score with a 6-2 win in the second set. The two battled in the third and deciding set and DeLong began to pull away as he held a 4-3 lead. However, he dropped the next two sets to put his back against the wall.

With match-point against him DeLong returned Tagliarino's forehand too deep and the Poets just missed out on the upset.

Despite the loss the win gave Whittier confidence for the rest of the season.

Outlook to Next Year
The Poets had a goal in 2008 to be ranked nationally. The team won 15 games and never reached the national polls but WC earned as high as a No. 12 ranking in the West Region. Whittier only graduates one player and will welcome back its entire roster as the purple and gold continue to work towards the top of the SCIAC standings.

"Next year should be an even better one for us," said Bojalad. We have signed two very strong incoming freshmen and both figure to play a big role in our starting six next year." 

"We hope to pass at least one, if not both Pomona and Cal Lutheran next year. They lose some key seniors so barring a big recruiting class on their end there is no reason why we shouldn't be able to do that. The top 25 in the nation is the goal at the end of the 2010 season," said Bojalad.