Aug. 11, 2008

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -

Complete Release in PDF Format

Briefly
Loyola Marymount men’s tennis (11-13, 4-4) finished the 2008 West Coast Conference Men’s Tennis Championships in fifth place, winning its final two matches on the season.   The Lions had an up-and-down year in 2007-08, winning three matches in a row from March 12 to 15 before dropping the next six straight from March 19 to April 2.  LMU did manage to defeat two nationally-ranked opponents over the course of the year, downing then-No. 73 BYU on February 16 and No. 58 UC Irvine on April 9 to snap the six-match losing skid.

The WCC Championships
LMU closed out the 2007-08 season at the West Coast Conference Championships with a 4-3 win over Portland. The fifth-seeded Lions finished true to their seed after topping the sixth-seeded Pilots at Santa Clara University. The Lions faced Portland in the battle for fifth place after falling in the first round to No. 4 San Francisco 5-2, and beating No. 8 Santa Clara in round two, 4-1.

All-WCC
Freshman Ivan Lopez had an impressive first season at LMU. The Almeria, Spain native began the season playing at No. 3 singles but was quickly moved to the No. 2 spot. He opened his collegiate career posting an overall singles record of 21-13, going 13-9 in dual action, good enough for a spot on the All-WCC singles second team. Lopez’s 21 wins place him in a tie for 10th place on the LMU season singles victories list.  Sophomores Renzo Maggi and Nick Von Der Ahe were also recognized by the West Coast Conference for their play in doubles action. The duo received the honorable mention doubles nod for their work at the No. 3 position, where they finished the season 5-1 overall in dual action.  This is the first accolade for both Maggi and Von Der Ahe.

Freshmen Lead Lions
The Lions were led this season by their freshman, Ivan Lopez, Stefan Nikolic and Johan Berhof. The trio finished their first collegiate season with a combined singles record of 58-44. Lopez was the leader of the pack, posting an overall record of 21-13, going 13-9 in dual action at mostly the No. 2 postion. Nikolic played at the No. 4, 5 and 6 singles spots, finishing with an impressive 19-12 record overall, and going 10-8 in dual play. Berhof finished his first season at LMU with an 18-19 singles record, going 12-12 in dual competition while playing mostly on court five.

WCC Spring All-Academic Team
Nine LMU spring sport student-athletes were awarded Academic All-West Coast Conference status, the conference office announced on June 25.  The men’s tennis team posted one player on the squad as sophomore Nick Von Der Ahe was named for the first time in his career. Von der Ahe managed a 3.86 grade-point-average as a chemistry major at LMU.  Earning All-WCC honorable mention accolades in doubles, he helped post a 14-16 overall record at the No. 3 position. He completed the season going 5-1 in dual-match play.

Sceney Adds Talented Recruits
Head Coach Brad Sceney will have two talented additions by the time the Lions take the court in 2008-09.  Borja Malet has committed to transfer to the Lion program, while freshman Matt Hall (Port Macquarie, Australia) has also signed with LMU.  Malet, a native of Barcelona, Spain, spent the last two seasons at Georgia Southern, where he earned second-team All-Southern conference after playing No.1 doubles and splitting time between the No. 2 and No. 3 spots in singles last season. Teamed with doubles partner, Emmanuel Nkoueleue, over the course of the 2007-08 season, Malet compiled an 18-10 overall record, 12-6 dual record and a 5-3 mark against SoCon foes at the No. 1 seed.  Malet finished the year with a 16-16 record in singles.  Hall, a 5’10 freshman, was ranked in the top-10 in the state of New South Wales in his junior career. Making a name for himself with his serve and forehand, he is expected to make an impact for LMU right away in both singles and doubles play.  Described as a player with an extremely athletic build, Sceney claims “Hall has what is referred to as a `blue collar’ mentality in Australia, which will benefit his game at the collegiate level and allow him to achieve every success.”