May 4, 2007
Men 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. |
Sean Robertson '10 (Foreground) and Justin DeLong '10 |
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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.
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