USD Men's Tennis 1994

1993 REVIEW For Coach Ed Collins, 1993 was the first of the post-Jose Luis Noriega years,and before it began he was cautiously optimistic: "I really didn't expect much," Collins said. "Losing a 4-time All-American was bound to have an effect on the team,and I didn't know if we'd get the wins,and leadership,at the top of the lineup." Collins' concerns were unfounded as a trio of players stepped up to lead the Toreros to another suc– cessful, albeit disappointing, year. It was asuccess in that the team won 16 and lost

just 4, USD made it back into the national rankings at #21 ,but disappointing in that they narowly missed mak– ing the NCAAs. "I was told we were the next team considered for the tournament," said Collins. "What we lacked was one big win - and to think we had 3 very close losses with top-ten teams." In the fall the Toreros qualified 6 at the West Coast Fall Championships. Philippe Hofmann put in the best pertormance, upsetting Pepperdine's Charles Auffray before losing to UCLA'sSebastian Le Blanc in three sets.

1993 Pro-Kennex Collegiate Classic Champions FredrikAxsater lost in the first round then

won four matches to win the consolation title. At the Rolex So Cal Regionals,held at UC Irvine,only FredrikAxsater made it past the second round. He lost in the round of 16 to Lukas Hovorka of USC. At the America West Challenge Cup,heldat Rice,Kevin Bradley was a quartertinalist, losing in 3 sets to Texas' Anders Eriksson. At the 15th San Diego All-College, senior Kevin Bradley edged teammate Fredrik Axsater 7-5,6-4; in the doubles final he teamed with Ignacio Martinez to beat Axsater and Mark Huarte. Unranked preseason, the Toreros began the Spring season with adoubleheader sweep of UCSD and UC Riverside, and an on-the-road split with Stanford and Pacific. Against Stanford, in the new best-of-7 format, the Toreros split the singles and lost the doubles to lose 4-3. Bradley defeated Cocotos, Axsater defeated Patel and J.J. Shobar defeated Thomas. At the 22nd San Diego lntercollegiates, Axsater and Hofmann won individual titles, leading the Toreros to the team title. In consolation events, Huarte and Olle Pierrou won titles. On February 15 the Toreros left balmy San Diego weather to fly crosscountry to play the 12th annual Ice Volleys, hosted by the Uof Minnesota. The Toreros drew New Mexico, ranked #24 in the first ITA poll, in the first round. After losing 2of the 3doubles, USD came back to win5of the 6singles. Axsater,Bradley, Udozorh, Hofmann and Shobar all posted victories. In the finals,against then #6 Notre Dame, USD swept the doubles, but failed to split the singles to earn the win. Back home the Toreros began an 11-match home stand by defeating Cal Berkeley and Miami (#21 ) by identical scores of 6-2. The wins over Miami and New Mexico earned USD a #24 ranking in the second ITNRolex poll. This marked the 7th consecutive year the Toreros appeared in the nation'stop-25 rankings. At the Pro-Kennex Collegiates, USD won its 7th consecutive title, defeating Iowa State, Yale and Pacific. The Toreros' lone loss to a non-ranked team was ASU, 5-4. The match went down to the last set at #3 doubles. Against Duke, the eventual NCAA semifinalist, the Toreros lost a thriller 5-4. At the beginning of April the Toreros were ranked #20 and needed to win their last three matches to have a chance to be invited to the NCAAs. Their only chance was to accumulate enough indirect wins to get recognition. In strong efforts they defeated Harvard 7-2, UC Irvine 5-4 and SDSU 5-1. Against #24 Irvine,without an ill Fredrik Axsater, the Toreros won a5-4 cliffhanger. In the final match of the season the Toreros,behind strong singles play of Axsater, Martinez, Bradley,Shobar and Udozorh,defeated #25 SDSU 5-1 , "State was seeded #1 in the WAC, later went on to defeat Pepperdine, and we needed a decisive win," said Collins. But it wasn't enough. Acouple weeks later the Toreros were informed by the NCAA that they would be staying home. Only junior Fredrik Axsater was invited into the singles draw where, in the first round,he defeated Texas'#t playerAnders Eriksson 6-3,2-6,6-2. In the second round he lost to LSU'sTamer El Sawy, the #4 seed, 6-3, 6-0. At the wee Championships, held at St. Mary's, USD was runner-up to Pepperdine for the singles, doubles and team title. FredrikAxsater made the singles final where he lost to Pep's Charles Auffray 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 , Martinez and Bradley lost in the doubles final to Nathan-Lothringer 6-7, 6-4, 6-1. At the year-end awards banquet,Axsater received the Best Overall Award, leading the team witha26- 4 record in singles and a 9-6 record in doubles; he was also elected Most Inspirational by his teammates. Ignacio Martinez received the Best Doubles Player Award. Mark Huarte was voted Best Sportsmanship and Most Improved Player. Kevin Bradley was recognized as Team Captain.

'93 Ice Volfies at U. of Minnesota

8