USD Men's Tennis 2007

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2007 SEASON PREVIEW

TOREROS LOOK TO CONTINUE WINNING WAYS The USO men's tennis team will head into the 2007 spring schedule with hopes of continuing their successful ways. Under the guidance of 11th-year head coach Tom Hagedorn, the Toreros have posted winning seasons the past ten years, and have reached the NCAA Tournament a school-best four straight years. The 2007 USO Toreros have a preseason team ranking of 42nd in the nation. Gone from last year's 15-7 club that turned in a final ITA ranking of 37th in the nation include the team's top three singles performers - Pierrick Ysern, Oscar Plotnik and Mirza Koristovic. Ysern , the 2005 NCAA National Runner-up, finished ranked 30th in the nation his senior year and compiled a 16-4 record at No. 1 singles. Plotnik and Koristovic split duties between No. 2 and No. 3 singles . Coach Hagedorn will look for his upperclassemen to provide this year's squad with both leadership and experience. USD's two seniors include Jonas Mouly (Paris , France) and Matt Ozurovich (Mission Viejo, CA). Mouly will be planted in the upper half of the singles ladder,while Ozurovich should give USO asolid punch at either No. 5or No. 6singles. Last year Mouly was an impressive 16-3 in dual-match singles play and finished 9-1 at the No. 6 slot. Ozurovich saw some action at No. 6 singles, and provided the Toreros some depth while playing with three different doubles partners. Junior Thomas Liversage (Welkom, South Africa) turned in a solid sophomore cam– paign and will compete for playing time at either No. 1or No. 2singles. Last year Liversage compiled a 13-5 dual-match singles record in the spring , and also teamed with Ysern at No. 1 Doubles for an 11-4 mark. The Torero duo were named First Team AII-WCC Doubles; advanced to the NCAA Tournament; and finished with a national ranking of 32nd. Junior Sammy Atri (Mexico City, Mexico) is USD's fourth upperclassman, and has shown marked improvement in each of his first two years. Atrio of sophomores figure to play a key role in USD's success in 2007. They include Chris Coetzee (Durban, South Africa), Ryo Sekiguchi (Tokyo, Japan) and Chari Wolma– rans (Capetown, South Africa). Look for Coetzee to play either No. 2or No. 3singles for the Toreros, and team up with Liversage at No. 1 doubles. Last year as a freshman Coetzee finished with a 6-2 mark at No. 6 singles. Sekiguchi turned in a very solid freshman year and should compete at either No. 4 or No. 5 singles for the Toreros . Last year Sekiguchi finished 11-6 overall in singles, including a 9-4 mark at No. 5 singles. Wolmarans, who has a powerful game, should compete in the middle of the Toreros' singles lineup, and is projected to team up with Jonas Mouly at No. 2 doubles. Coach Hagedorn welcomes two new Toreros in freshmen Levon Brown (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) and Lawrence Kourie (San Diego, CA). Brown competed at the National Sport School in Alberta where he was ranked in the top-1 O in Alberta. This past season he spent about 5months at the Wiel Tennis Academy in Ojai , California , and proceeded to be ranked in the top-60 for SoCal 18s. Kourie is a local product who played up the road at Torrey Pines High School. Last year he was named First Team All-Palomar League and Division I AII-CIF Section. Once again the Toreros , who enter the spring season ranked 42nd , will tackle a very tough schedule. Thirteen opponents are ranked in the ITAPreseason Top-75, and six appear in the Top-25. Those six teams include #4 UCLA, #9 Stanford, #10 Pepperdine , #22 North Carolina, #24 Wake Forest, and #25 Boise State. Following three straight road matches to open the season , USO will host a 13-match homestand between February 8th and March 24th. Following four road matches to begin the month of April , the Toreros will play host to the 2007 West Coast Conference Championships (April 20-22) . Should USO advance to its fifth straight NCAA Tournament, the Regionals will be held at sixteen host sites over the weekend of May 11-13. The NCAA Team and Individual Championships are being held at the Univ. of Georgia between May 17-28.