May 14, 2008

Moraga, CA - The 2007-08 men's tennis team compiled their best season in program history, as Head Coach Michael Wayman helped propel the Gaels into the national tennis scene for the first time in the school history. The Gaels brought the program to new heights, earning their highest ranking ever, No. 47 by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. With a 16-7 overall record, and with every loss suffered coming at the hands of ranked opponents, it was not a surprise that this team had the potential to do something special.

And memorable it was, armed with a 4-2 record against conference opponents, the Gaels entered the West Coast Conference Championships as the three seed and were ready to make some noise amongst some very talented conference competition. In the opening round the Gaels faced the Pilots of the Northwest, putting on a dominating performance and earning a 4-1 victory. In the second round Saint Mary's saw the two seed, San Diego, a team that had handed the Gaels a loss earlier in the season. The Toreros were ranked one spot better than Saint Mary's, entering the championships with a No. 58 ranking. But the numbers would not prove true, as Saint Mary's posted an epic victory over San Diego, 4-2. The Gaels began the match by clinching the doubles point, and then went on to win three singles matches to clinch their appearance in the WCC Championships. The win over the Toreros marked the first time the program has won a second round conference match and advanced to the finals.

In the finals the Gaels were up against a tough competitor, No. 14 Pepperdine. The Waves of Malibu had won 17 consecutive conference championships, and they were not about to give up the crown easily. Unfortunately it would not be the storybook ending that the Gaels had hoped for, as Pepperdine used their extraordinary skill and experience to top Saint Mary's in the championship match.

Saint Mary's conference efforts would not be overlooked, as many of the Gaels would receive all-conference accolades, headlined by Head Coach Michael Wayman's second consecutive WCC Coach of the Year Honor. Joining Wayman were seniors Joel Kusnierz and Marek Dvorak, along with junior Achim Christner and freshman Lucas Tirelli. Kusnierz swept the all-conference honors, earning first team recognitions in both singles and doubles. Tirelli was also spotlighted for his singles and doubles talent, placing on the first team for doubles (along with Kusnierz) and second team for singles. Rounding out the honorees were Dvorak and Christner, as they were named to the all-conference second team for doubles, while Dvorak was named to honorable mention team for singles as well.

This stellar season had to start somewhere, and there was potential in the Gaels from the start. Facing No. 19 Florida State in the opening match of the season, Wayman and the team would not back down from the challenge, battling in every single position. The Gaels were topped, 4-2, but then came back with vengeance to defeat Hawaii in a hotly contested match on the Warriors home court, 4-3. The Gaels were just a hair short of taking down Bay Area rival No. 39 California in their third match of the season, as they were defeated 4-3 in Berkeley, CA. The match against the Golden Bears may have earned the respect of the tennis world, had it gone the Gaels way, but Saint Mary's would take the tougher route, going on six and five-game win-streaks to earn their first ranking of the season, No. 75.

As the season began to dwindle the Gaels' schedule only got tougher, as they faced No. 52 Fresno State, No. 28 Stanford, and No. 13 Pepperdine, all prior to the WCC Championships. Although all three matches resulted in losses, some great results came from playing these challenging adversaries. Against No. 28 Stanford the Gael's doubles game got back-on-track, as they earned the doubles point winning two of the three matches. The real battle took place on court two, as Achim Christner and Marek Dvorak edged the Cardinal's Richard Wire and Paul Morrissey, 8-6.

Against No. 52 Fresno State and No. 13 Pepperdine, it was Joel Kusnierz who flourished against the high-level competition. Versus the Bulldogs the senior made winning look easy, defeating his opponent at the No. 1 position, 6-3, 6-1. It was against the Waves when things became interesting, as Kusnierz earned the greatest individual victory in Saint Mary's tennis history, topping the No. 6 ranked singles player in the nation, Andre Begemann. The senior dropped a very close first set to the Wave, 5-7, but surged back to even the match with a 7-6 second set victory. The final set was forced to a super tiebreaker, as Kusnierz came out on top, 10-8.

With the season left on the doorstep of post-season play, the Gaels were left disappointed following the NCAA Selection Show. Without the automatic birth in the NCAA tournament, the Gaels were the third highest ranked men's team to fail to earn an at-large bid. Although the end to this almost perfect season may have left a bad taste in the mouths of Gael players and supporters, but the future of Gael tennis is bright, as the squad returns eight of their ten players to the 2009 season.