Sept. 27, 2005

b>Moraga, Calif. - Senior Mike Chan and freshman Derek Essoyan finished the Saint Mary's Invitational undefeated in singles play with perfect 3-0 records against Saint Mary's, San Francisco, and Pacific. The invitational served as the fall debut for LMU men's tennis.

In the final day of competition at the Saint Mary's Invitational, senior Mike Chan defeated San Francisco's Mitch Del Rosario 6-1,4-6,7-6. "Once again, Mike looked down and out, but found a way to come back," Head Coach Nik DeVore said. "This time, he was down 4-1 in the third, but he never threw in the towel. I was really impressed with Mike's mental toughness this weekend. He has always had great skills, but in the past has struggled to stay strong mentally when facing adversity. Not this weekend. Mike defeated three quality opponents."

Freshman Derek Essoyan also finished the weekend 3-0. On Sunday, Essoyan topped San Francisco's Torin Ching 6-3,6-4 and finished the weekend without dropping a single set. "Derek showed me a lot this weekend," DeVore said. "He played with a great deal of confidence in every match, especially for a freshman who is playing his first collegiate competition."

Senior Matt Phillips won a third singles match for the Lions on the final day of competition with a hard-fought 7-5,2-6,10-6 victory over San Francisco's Andrew Hogan.

"This was a good start to the season for us," DeVore said. "We have a lot of work to do this fall, but early indications are that we have good talent this year that will really develop over time."

Next up for the Lions is the UC Irvine Invitational October 7-9. Teams competing will be LMU, UC Irvine, Arizona State, and Cal Poly SLO.

-GO LIONS-