UC-Santa Cruz: Successful Spring for Slugs
Spring Break was kind to the UC-Santa Cruz men’s team. No hangovers, no missing flip-flops, no sunburned backs. Just a 7-1 record, a No. 4 ranking and a banana boat full of momentum.
“We’ve done really well since [the ITA National Indoor],” said Banana Slugs head coach Bob Hansen. “It was a good spring break, if we had beaten Azusa would’ve been perfect.”
The Slugs lone Spring Break loss came in a road match against Azusa Pacific — a 5-4 loss to the ‘08 NAIA finalist Cougars. Santa Cruz recorded wins against UC-Davis, Swarthmore, No. 9 Kenyon, No. 6 Middlebury, La Verne, No. 10 Gustavus Adolphus and Pomona-Pitzer. The win against Kenyon was the Slugs first this season, after a quarterfinal setback at the National Indoor.
“They beat us at Indoors 5-4, but we beat them 7-2 in the rematch and it wasn’t even a close 7-2,” Hansen said. “We’re getting better and better, we’re hitting our stride.”
The Slugs followed up the decisive 7-2 romp on Mar. 13 with 5-4 nail-biters over Middlebury (Mar. 23) and Gustavus Adolphus (Mar. 26) in a five matches in four days span before closing March with a 7-2 win over Pomona-Pitzer. The Slugs return to action April 18 with a pair of home tilts against Chapman and UC-San Diego, before what Hansen has been hyping as the end-all, be-all match of the season. Santa Cruz hosts No. 3 Claremont on May 2 at 12 p.m. to close the regular season.
“That’s for the No. 1 seed [in the NCAA West Region] and who gets to host the first and second round of NCAAs the following weekend,” Hansen said. “If they beat us, we’ll have to head down to Claremont.”
While the Stags would host the first two rounds at their brand new $15 million tennis complex, the Biszantz Family Tennis Center — already the site of the finals May 19-24 — Hansen has other plans in mind.
“We want to play in the finals at their new facility while they’re getting the water,” he said.
Saviano Gives Los Gatos H.S. Courts a Makeover
After a six-week stay at the Los Gatos Swim and RC, the Los Gatos Tennis Academy is back at Los Gatos H.S., happy to be playing on five freshly renovated tennis courts courtesy of the Saviano, Co.
The $90,000 court renovation included a state-of-the-art Petromat overlay. When saturated with asphalt cement tack coat, a Petromat overlay becomes a moisture barrier in the pavement, minimizing surface water infiltration and extending the court life exponentially.
“In addition to the Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District, LGS Recreation and South Bay Community Tennis Association, I would like to personally thank the New Millennium Foundation, Los Gatos Athletic Association, USTA Norcal, Saviano, Co. and the many families who contributed to this project,” Dissly said. “This project would have been impossible were it not for the combined efforts of everyone involved.”
And according to Dissly, there’s still some work to be done — public and private funds covered only $80,000 of the cost. Dissly will use a May 31 Rock & Rally at Blossom Hill Park to attempt to cover the $10,000 difference.
The free community tennis event includes games, food, and prizes for the whole family and features a USTA Fast Serve contest and a silent auction to help raise the additional funds needed for the project.
“These courts will be getting a lot of use,” Dissly said, “including the high school, city recreation and the tennis academy.”
For more info on the Rock & Rally, contact Todd Dissly at tdizz@lgta.net.
Los Gatos Swim and RC Shoots for Three-peat
The Los Gatos Swim and Racvquet Club will go for a tournament three-peat May 15-17 when it hosts the Third Annual Los Gatos NTRP Doubles Challenge. The Los Gatos NTRP was named USTA NorCal Tournament of the Year each of its first two years.
According to Los Gatos Swim and RC Director of Tennis Vince Russo, more than 200 participants are expected to compete in 3.0-5.0 men’s, women’s and mixed doubles action.
But Russo is counting on the casino online four dozen plus competing in the event’s triples tournament halftime to help the club to its third straight NorCal Tournament of the Year honor.
“We do a triples tournament, a three-on-three drill featuring two baseliners and a net player during the 12 to 2 p.m. break on Saturday,” Russo said. “Most of our participants have never seen it before and it’s still a really a big draw. Fifty people participate and with three-on-three it creates angles, excitement and long points — a little bit of everything. Plus, We barbeque, eat and have fun.”
Open Showdown at Carmel Valley Athletic Club
The $1,500 Carmel Valley Athletic Club Open/NTRP Spring Championships went off without a hitch March 21-29.
The men’s Open saw five of NorCal’s top 10 players converge upon Carmel to compete for the title. Brad Weston defeated Adam Seri in a thrilling final 6-1, 3-6, 6-3. Alex Strom bested John Lamble for third place 5-7, 6-2, 6-0. Brian Cory/Rick Kepler picked up another Open doubles title, topping Mackenzie McDonald/ Josh Diaz 6-3, 6-1 for the title. Balance Physical Therapy and Monterey Inns sponsored the tournament, which benefits Casa of Monterey County.
Decathlon Club to Overhaul Courts
Good news for South Bay tennis players! The long-celebrated Decathlon Club, whose innovations have contributed much to Silicon Valley tennis, will be transformed once again. The club will undergo a complete court resurfacing this May, according to Decathlon Tennis Director Mark Roberts. Decathlon will resurface all 13 courts and a ball machine court in U.S. Open blue, plus upgrade lighting throughout the facility — just in time for the start to the summer season.
“It’s going to be beautiful,” Roberts said. “We’re expecting a gorgeous scene. It’s going to be a sizeable change for tennis at Decathlon.”
League Tennis Booming in Sunnyvale
Forty-nine USTA league teams will compete for the Sunnyvale TC this Spring season with the Adult and Super Senior 65s — nine more than the club’s previous high of 40 teams.
“This is a record even for us as the largest USTA Leagues organization in the U.S.,” said former Sunnyvale TC president Jean Hassoun. “I stayed on the computer until 7:30 a.m. the next day to create 531 court reservations for those teams.”
Started in the early ‘70s, STC is the largest CTA in the U.S. with over 1000 members.
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