Fresno State Athletics
No. 18 Men's Tennis Takes Show On The Road
2/6/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Feb. 6, 2001
THIS WEEK
Thu., Feb. 8 at No. 22 Cal -- Berkeley, Calif. 1:30 p.m.
Fri., Feb. 9 at No. 1 Stanford -- Palo Alto, Calif. 1:30 p.m.
Sat., Feb. 10 at Santa Clara -- Santa Clara, Calif. 1 p.m.
NEXT WEEK
Sun., Feb. 18 Nevada -- Fresno, Calif. 1 p.m.
Scouting No. 22 Cal (1-1): The Golden Bears opened PAC-10 Conference play with a 5-2 win against Oregon and a 4-3 loss to Washington. Cal was scheduled to play in the Rolex Indoor Championships in Dallas this weekend, and is led by No. 7 John Paul Fruttero. The Bulldogs are 6-7 all-time against Cal, including a 5-2 win last year.
Scouting No. 1 Stanford (2-0): The Cardinal also competed in the Rolex Indoor Championships in Dallas this past weekend. Stanford has four singles players ranked nationally: No. 14 David Martin, No. 46 Scott Lipsky, No. 52 K.J. Hippensteel and No. 83 Ali Ansari. Fresno State is 0-9 all-time against the Cardinal, and lost their last match to Stanford 7-0 in 1998.
Scouting No. Santa Clara (1-2): The Broncos are 1-2 so far this season. The Broncos are led by Matt Cox, Ryan Livesay and Michael Duong in singles play. The Bulldogs are 9-0 all-time against Santa Clara, including a 4-3 victory at home last season.
THE CHASE RESUMES
All-American senior Peter Luczak, who was awarded a No. 14 preaseason singles ranking after finishing last season 32-14, needs only 23 singles wins to break the all-time mark of 105 held by Bryan Juinio. Luczak, who has also been considered a contender for the NCAA singles title, sat out the fall season playing in satellite and challenger tournaments. The Melbourne, Australia, native has posted identical 32-14 records the last two seasons.
MULLINS LEADS `DOGS IN FALL
Senior David Mullins was the Bulldog's best singles player in the fall season, posting an 11-3 mark. He won the Wathen/Hancock Bulldog Tennis Classic by defeating Oregon's Oded Teig in the finals 7-6 (3), 6-3. Mullins also advanced to the round of 16 in singles at the ITA Regional Championships and advanced to the doubles semifinals with teammate Nick Fustar in the same tournament. Mullins won nine matches in a row at one point this fall, and his 65 singles wins during the past two seasons leads the team.
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
The Bulldogs home record since the dedication of the Spalding G. Wathen Tennis Center on Feb. 1, 1998, is worth noting. The Bulldogs have gone 33-2 at home since then, including a 28-match winning streak entering last season's USC match. Even more impressively, Fresno State's home record dating back to the 1993-94 season is an incredible70-4.
HI, MY NAME IS
The Bulldog's squad this season is quite a change from last year's end. Peter Luczak, David Mullins and Nick Fustar are the only returnees from last season's eight-man squad. Sean Cooper, Alex Krohn, Alex Menichini, Michael Moretti and Marko Begovic are the new faces on this year's team. Cooper, a transfer from San Diego, finished the fall season with a respectable 5-3 singles record. Krohn played tennis all four years at Cardinal Newman High School in Santa Rosa, Calif., and won the North Coast section as a freshman. Menichini lettered in three seasons at Calabasas High School and was team MVP all three seasons. Moretti represented Venezuela in the 5th American Championships in Brazil during November. He was ranked 3rd in Venezuela in the 18 and under junior rankings. Begovic is a 3-time national junior champion from Podgorica, Yugoslavia.
BULLDOGS BLANK MUSTANGS IN HOME OPENER
Fresno State opened their spring season in fine fashion Sunday afternoon with a 7-0 shutout of Cal Poly. The Bulldogs won all six singles matches and all three doubles matches to claim the victory. Fresno State is now 8-4 overall against Cal Poly and have not lost to the Mustangs since 1988.
