CLU Head Coach Mike Gennette Earns Career Win No. 200
ORANGE, Calif. – No. 20 Cal Lutheran earned a pair of
Saturday road wins over No. 12 Pomona-Pitzer and Chapman. The
team’s conference victory over the Sagehens to begin the day
was the 200th of current CLU Head Coach Mike Gennette.
Results: CLU 5, PP 4 – F
Results: CLU 9, CU 0 – F
The former Kingsmen player turned head coach in 1994 entered his 19th season with 198 wins. Following a season opening victory over nationally ranked Brandeis in late February, Gennette stood just one win away from No. 200.
Cal Lutheran 5, Pomona-Pitzer 4 – F
More than a coaching milestone was on the line Saturday morning as
both squads were looking to open conference play with a victory.
The Kingsmen had extra incentive in hopes of avenging a loss during
last year’s regular season meeting.
Cal Lutheran trailed 2-1 through doubles but only after the nationally ranked No. 2 pairing of Nicholas Ballou and Ray Worley outlasted Pomona-Pitzer’s Tommy Meyer and Uday Singh in a tiebreak. The Kingsmen pairing remained unbeaten this season following Saturday’s action.
Ballou won the final two sets of his No. 1 singles match pulling
the Kingsmen even with the Sagehens at 4-4. The match-deciding
point would be earned at No. 6 singles between Marcelo Sousa of Cal
Lutheran and Kevin Prescott of Pomona-Pitzer (1-4, 0-1 SCIAC).
With everything on the line, Sousa pulled out a 6-4, 3-6, 6-2
victory. The third set began just as everything else had finished,
adding a little extra pressure, which Sousa thrived on.
Mike Gennette is the second head coach at Cal Lutheran to earn a milestone win in as many days. On Friday CLU baseball Head Coach Marty Slimak earned his 500th career victory following a home win over Whittier.
Cal Lutheran 9, Chapman 0 – F
Sooner after an uplifting win Cal Lutheran departed the city of
Claremont and headed down to Orange County. The Kingsmen took on
Chapman at the Anaheim Hills Racquet Club later that afternoon.
The Kingsmen found little resistance from the Panthers on Saturday winning all three doubles matches by at least one break of serve. Ballou rested following doubles play bumping up each member of the CLU line-up.
Justin Wilson was victorious in his first career match at the No. 1 singles slot. He took down Dylan Tevlin in straight sets 6-4, 6-1.
Five of the six Cal Lutheran players earned straight set wins including Cody Kowalczyk at No. 6 singles. He posted a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Kevin Smyth in his season debut. Ray Worley, Connor Treacy, and Sousa preserved their unbeaten singles records this season as each are 3-0 early on in 2012.
Cal Lutheran (3-0, 1-0 SCIAC) will host four matches over four
straight days starting on Monday, March 5, against Mary
Washington.
