Fresno State Athletics
Men's Tennis Season Comes to a Close
5/30/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
May 30, 2000
NCAA TOURNAMENT RECAP
Team Competition
1st rnd: DEF Oregon 4-0
2nd rnd: LOST USC 4-1
Singles Competition
Peter Luczak
1st rnd: LOST Carlos Drada (Kentucky) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
Olivier Le Jeune
1st rnd: LOST (4) Daniel Andersson (VCU) 6-3, 6-1
Doubles Competition
Scorteanu/Cheyne
1st rnd: DEF (1) Morrison/Overholser (Florida) 7-5, 6-4
2nd rnd: LOST Root/Smith (Duke) 4-6, 6-1, 6-4
CHEYNE/SCORTEANU STUN NUMBER ONE SEED AT NCAA's BEFORE FALLING
Although the doubles team of Andy Scorteanu and Rob Cheyne fell in the NCAA doubles tournament's second round, they pulled off a big upset in the first round. Facing top-seeded Jeff Morrison and Nathan Overholser of Florida, the unseeded Scorteanu/Cheyne emerged victorious 7-5, 6-4. The FS duo had to battle through a rain delay and the change from outdoors to indoors in becoming the first Bulldogs doubles team to defeat a No. 1 seed in an NCAA tournament match. Unfortunately, Scorteanu and Cheyne could not keep their momentum going. The tandem narrowly fell in their second round match to Duke's Doug Root and Ramsey Smith 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.
Le JEUNE'S SPARKLING CAREER COMES TO AN END
Olivier Le Jeune wrapped up one of the most successful careers in Fresno State history with a 6-3, 6-1 first round loss in the NCAA singles tournament to fourth-seeded Daniel Andersson of Virginia Commonwealth. Le Jeune, who won at least 20 matches all four years he was a Bulldog, finishes his career with 102 singles victories, a mark which places him second on Fresno State's all-time list, just three behind Bryan Juinio's 105. Following is a year-by-year breakdown of Le Jeune's four-year Fresno State career:
Year W L Pct. 1996-97 20 5 .800* 1997-98 23 11 .676 1998-99 30 9 .769 1999-00 29 11 .725 ----------------------------- TOTALS 102 36 .739
* joined team in January of his freshman year.
LUCZAK FALLS IN FIRST ROUND BUT IS STILL GOOD BET TO PASS JUINIO
Joining Le Jeune in a first round defeat was Peter Luczak, who fell to eventual finalist Carlos Drada of Kentucky 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Luczak wrapped up the year with a 32-14 record, the second consecutive year he has racked up 32 victories. The junior has won 82 singles matches in his career, only 23 shy of the all-time mark of 105, held by Bryan Juinio. In his first three years as a Bulldog, Luczak has averaged 27 victories per season.
TEAM COMPETITION - BULLDOGS FALL IN NCAA SECOND ROUND
No. 13-seed Fresno State's season ended with a 4-1 loss to No. 17-32 seed USC in the second round of the NCAA tournament at the Spalding G. Wathen Tennis Center. The Bulldogs came out of the blocks hot, winning two of three doubles matches to grab an early 1-0 lead. But after that, USC dominated. The Trojans picked up victories at Nos. 1, 5 and 6 singles to jump ahead 3-1. At No. 3 singles, Ryan Moore clinched the win by taking out Andy Scorteanu 7-6 (1), 6-0, and in doing so snapped the Bulldogs' 28-match home court winning streak. FS advanced to the second round by defeating No. 49-64 seed Oregon 4-0 in impressive fashion. USC beat No. 33-48 seed Pacific 4-1 in its first round match. The win advanced the Trojans to the round of 16, where they fell 4-1 to eventual semifinalist Florida.
WHERE'S THE LUCK?
Olivier Le Jeune just couldn't get a break in his attempt to break Fresno State's all-time singles victory mark. The senior finished with 102 in his Bulldog career but could have had many more if he played at a quicker pace. Le Jeune was ahead of all three of his opponents at the Blue-Gray Tennis Classic in Montgomery, Ala., March 16-19, but didn't finish any of the matches because the Bulldogs clinched victory before he could complete his match. Against Oregon in FS's first round NCAA tournament match, Le Jeune was ahead of Thomas Schneiter 6-3, 3-1 when Fresno State clinched the match. One day later against USC, he was up on Andrew Park 6-1, 6-5 when the Trojans picked up a 4-1 win.
THAT'S A LOT OF WINS
Fresno State's 4-0 victory over Oregon in the first round of the NCAA tournament gave the Bulldogs 24 wins on the season and set a new program record for victories in a season. This year's record of 24-5 is one more win than the 1995-96 team racked up. That Bulldogs team finished 23-5 and lost in the quarterfinals at the NCAA tournament.
THIS STRING WAS BROKEN
USC's victory over Fresno State snapped a couple of streaks. The Bulldogs had won 28 consecutive matches at the Spalding G. Wathen Tennis Center coming into the match and was 32-1 all-time at the facility. The loss was also FS's first at home in eight postseason matches. The Bulldogs went 2-0 in the 1995 NCAA Regional, 3-0 in the 1996 WAC tournament and won both their first and second round NCAA tournament matches last year.
DOMINATING AT HOME
Although Fresno State fell to USC in the second round of the NCAA tournament, the Bulldogs' home record since the dedication of the Spalding G. Wathen Tennis Center on Feb. 1, 1998, is still sparkling. FS has gone 32-2 at home in that time, including the 28-match winning streak entering the USC match. Even more impressive is Fresno State's home record dating back to the 1993-94 season - an incredible 69-4.
WAC TOURNAMENT RECAP
No. 11 and second-seeded Fresno State came up just short against No. 13 and third-seeded SMU at the WAC tournament, losing a 4-3 decision in the semifinals. In a rematch of last year's conference championship match, the Bulldogs jumped on top early, taking the doubles point for a 1-0 lead. But SMU rebounded and turned five of the six singles matches into three-set marathons. The Mustangs posted victories at Nos. 1, 3 and 4 while FS got victories from David Mullins at No. 5 and Nick Fustar at No. 6. With the match tied 3-3, all eyes shifted to No. 2 singles, where No. 32 Peter Luczak was battling No. 84 Dustin Mauck. After winning the first set 7-6, Luczak served for the match at 5-4 and had three match points at 40-love, but couldn't convert any of them. Mauck fought back to win the second set 7-5 to force the third set. Luczak fell behind 4-1 in the deciding set but clawed his way back to make it 4-4. Mauck held serve for a 5-4 lead and had three match points on Luczak's serve but couldn't close out the match. The two players battled to a tiebreaker, in which both players had match points before Mauck finally prevailed 10-8 to give SMU the victory.
