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Men's tennis sets new win record
Team goes undefeated on the weekend to set a new mark for victories in one season
 Media Credit: Blair Schlichte/Staff Photographer
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The spring of 2001 saw the SCSU men's tennis squad set a new school record with 20 wins. That record lasted all of one year as the 2002 version of the SCSU men's tennis team shattered it over the weekend.
"It's really a great feeling," said SCSU senior Doug Lecy on setting the new record. "We've all been getting better every year we've been here."
The Huskies' steady improvement all came to a head over the weekend as they played four matches, dominating every one of them.
Thursday afternoon saw the Huskies make quick work of visiting Colorado College, 9-0. The only close match of the afternoon came at number two doubles where the team of Bryan Baumann and Josh Lunak were able to barely escape with a 9-8 victory. The Huskies won every other match by at least four games.
"We're really confident right now," said junior Bob Skenzich of the team's spirits. "The past few weeks we've played quite a few matches and came through in all of them. Everyone is at the top of their game."
Everyone remained at the top of their game on Friday as the Huskies earned wins number 22 and 23 by destroying both Augustana and Hamline, 9-0.
Singles action saw Todd Bishop, Casey Haselwander, Josh Lunak, and Zach O'Donell win their matches by scores of 6-0, 6-0. The other matches were almost just as lopsided as Augustana was only able to win a total of 10 games in the nine matches played.
The only close match of the nightcap versus Hamline came when the tandem of Bishop and Skenzich were nearly upset by Hamline's Kris Pierno and Joe Vogel. Bishop and Skenzich managed to escape unscathed, however, and notch a 9-7 win.
A good size crowd was on hand inside of Gold's Gym to witness SCSU plow through South Dakota State University in the final match of the regular season. Once again, the Huskies posted a shutout win, 9-0, to finish the regular season with a 24-6 mark.
Bryan Baumann gained a 6-0, 6-1 victory for SCSU at number two singles while Bishop knocked off SDSU's Ben Barnes, 6-1, 6-1. Haselwander and Lecy found themselves trailing most of the way in their match at number three doubles before battling back and winning, 9-7.
Fifth-year SCSU head coach Jerry Anderson figured his squad would play well this weekend. But did he expect to not even drop a set, let alone a match, the entire weekend? Not exactly.
"The weekend was even more dominant than I thought," he said. "It turned out to be a nice, relaxing, social weekend where I could just sit back and watch the guys play."
Next up for SCSU is the NCC Tourney April 26-28 in Omaha, Neb. SCSU will be looking for their first NCC title since 1999 and their ninth overall. So far, all signs point to the tourney being a two-team race between SCSU and the University of Northern Colorado.
"Northern Colorado is tough," Lecy said. "We need to step it up against them. They will be basically our only competition."
"Our season is judged by the NCC Tournament," Bishop added. "If we do good, then our season will be successful both individually and as a team."
The Huskies also hope to learn if they will be a part of this year's NCAA Tournament by midweek. Currently, the Huskies are ranked ninth in the mid-west region while only the top eight teams advance to the NCAA Tournament.
Adam Czech can be reached at: [email protected]
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