MDsports 7
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Men’s tennis regains swagger MUSTANG DAILY STAFF REPORT
mustangdailysports@gmail.com
Men’s tennis head coach Nick Carless noticed a difference in his team’s 5-2 loss to Boise State on March 10. The way he saw it, the team held back and beat themselves. Since he had encountered that kind of loss many times in his coaching career, he knew there was only way to address it: Pump up the team’s swagger. “A lot of what you do just has to come from your own belief, as a team,” Carless said. “I just say it is your belief in yourself
and what you can do out there as a team, as an individual. If we don’t believe now that we can really beat anybody in the country, any conference, whoever we play, then we are not going to ever believe it.” And the Mustangs did, as evidenced in their decisive two wins against Nebraska (51) and Princeton (6-1) before dropping a 4-3 loss to No. 17 Washington during their three matches over spring break. “Sometimes you can get in your own way, more so than the opponent does,” Carless said. “(Boise State) was a match where we learned, ‘Hey, if we
kinda go out and play free, we really can beat anybody.’” Former Arroyo Grande High School standout Andre Dome played a big part in helping his team rebound from its loss to the Broncos. Against Nebraska, he swept Christopher Aumuelle (7-5, 6-2) only before turning around with another sweep against Princeton’s Matija Pecotic (6-4, 6-2) in the Cal Poly’s next match. Against Washington, however, Dome hit a hiccup. He defeated Kyle McMorrow, the Huskies top player, 6-4 in his first set, fell 7-6 in the second and fell again 6-4 in the third and final set.
“It’s not that he played bad, the other guy just played a little better,” Carless said. “He didn’t serve well, which is his biggest strength, but he played well, if that makes sense. He usually gets a lot of his points off of his serves, whether it’s an ace or a service winner, and he just didn’t get those against Washington.” Despite the loss, Carless said the experience of facing talent like McMorrow, who came into the match ranked No. 17 in the nation, will help Dome out in the long run — especially in the postseason. “It’s going to do wonders for
him as it gets down toward the end of the year,” Carless said. “His ultimate goal is to make the NCAA Tournament. In that tournament, he is going to be seeing players just like he saw against Washington, and even better. He’ll know how to handle a situation a little bit better.” The same goes for his team, which in Carless’ first season looks to be headed toward the postseason. With just five matches to go before the Big West Championships in Indian Wells on April 27 to 29, the Mustangs have won 10 of their past 12 matches. And in their two recent wins over Princeton and Nebraska, the Mustangs hardly stumbled. Against Nebraska, Cal Poly took five of six singles points, with the only loss coming when the Cornhuskers’ Benedikt Lindheim defeated Brian McPhee 6-0, 7-5. Doubles were not played because of darkness. In their 6-1 victory against Princeton, the Mustangs did the same. They won five matchups in singles, as well as the doubles point, over the Tigers. Both of those performances, Carless said, can be attributed to the gut check the team received after falling to Boise State. “Again, as a coach, you just gotta tell your players, ‘Hey you gotta learn from it, gotta get better.’” Carless said. “And I think that will really help us out.”
NHA HA/MUSTANG DAILY
Brian De Los Santos contributed to this report
Matt Fawcet (right), a senior from Cape Town, South Africa, is 2-0 in singles competition this season and boasts an undefeated 6-0 record in doubles play with teammate Andre Dome (left).
WAGMAN continued from page 8
chance to win against the other team’s best guy every week,” Wagman said. “That couldn’t be more fun for me. It’s a great honor because I know how many guys there are that want this position.” Teammates and coaches of Wagman are quick to point to his defining leadership in the clubhouse and on the mound. The Mustangs are known to be a young squad, but roommate and sophomore catcher Chris Hoo said the team’s camaraderie stems from Wagman’s work ethic. “It’s good that he has experience with all the coaches, and he shows all the younger guys that you need to work hard to make it somewhere,” Hoo said. It’s not all business for Wagman though, who takes reprieve from the everyday grind by playing Nintendo 64 with Hoo and other roommates after mid-week practices and Tweeting from his satirical Twitter handle, @TheFakeJ_Waggy, which refers to the irony of many “real” athletes’ Twitter accounts. The business administration junior also said his love for baseball won’t stop after college — he wants to be a high school math teacher and baseball coach upon graduation. But for now, Wagman will continue to focus on helping his young team continue its underdog season. “This is the best team I’ve been a part of,” Wagman said. “The chemistry is unbelievable, and we have a group of guys that are hard working overall. Everybody is real committed to win … We’re going to stay hungry and try to keep it rolling.”
TO PLACE A CLASSIFIED AD:
CLASSIFIED ADS ARE FREE FOR STUDENTS
Order online: www.MUSTANGDAILY.net Call: 805.756.1143 a day prior by noon
Stop into the MUSTANG DAILY to find out how to place your ad.
Ads must be prepaid by check made out to MUSTANG DAILY or paid by credit card at MUSTANGDAILY.NET
SUDOKU
MUSTANG MINIS Counselors, lifeguards, activity specialists & more. www. day campjobs.com
POP CULTURE SHOCK THERAPY
F MINUS
CROSSWORD PUZZLE