Men's Tennis

Sharks, Sea Lions and Cougars projected to be among top men's tennis squads

You probably didn’t need a poll to tell you that Hawai`i Pacific and Azusa Pacific will be favored to battle it out for the 2023 Pacific West Conference men’s tennis championship.

The Sharks have won six titles dating back to 2013 and the Cougars have won two, including the 2022 banner with a 4-3 win over HPU. Hawai`i Pacific has been deemed the favorite by PacWest coaches for the 2023 crown, but there is also a new top gun expected to contend along with Azusa Pacific, who was picked to finish third.

Point Loma has now entered the title talk. Hawai`i Pacific picked up 83 poll points to claim the top spot and Azusa Pacific was third with 78. But the Sea Lions squeezed into the second rung with 79 points, meaning that that the top three teams are only separated by five points.

Biola was next with 59 poll points, Concordia is fifth (56), Hawai`i Hilo is sixth (44), followed by Metro State Denver (41), Colorado Mesa (24), Fresno Pacific (22) and Holy Names (9).

Hawai`i Pacific lost PacWest Player of the Year Jordi Walder and their No. 2 Jan Pleva, but have enough returning to the cupboard to earn the coaches votes for the top spot. Benjamin Loccisano, who played No. 1 for the Sharks a few years back, compiled a 17-1 record for a loaded Sharks team at the No. 5 spot last year. Robin Sanz (15-3) and Jakob Beran (14-3) also return for head coach Hendrik Bode, who enters his 12th season with a career record of 183-60. The Sharks have also added transfer Tanguy Calicis (Luxembourg), who played No. 3 last year at Augusta University as a freshman.

Point Loma was just 11-12 a year ago, but returns their top five players from a group that was strong enough to garner the second place thoughts from the coaches. Tyler Davis is back to lead the group, playing his fourth season in the number one spot for head coach Curt Wheeler. Davis was 11-11 a year ago playing against the top player from every opponent. Back at No. 2 is David Strassburger (10-12),  followed byu Alexander Leischner (No. 3, 12-4), Nabeel Khan (No. 4, 9-12), and Alejandro Castaneda (No. 5, 9-6). The Sea Lions already looked impressive this year with exhibition wins over Division I opponents Nevada and the University of San Francisco.

Like the Sharks, Azusa Pacific graduated their top two players in Ryan Nuno and Sam Sippel. But they return battle-tested senior Leyton Bohren, who at No. 3 has played in a number of match-deciding bouts during his veteran career. Bohren was 12-6 last year. Returning behind Bohren is Elias Emilio Walter (15-5) and Miha Velicki (6-4). Head coach Mark Bohren, entering into his 28th season with a 547-194 record, has added graduate senior Marko Nikoliuk (Ukraine), who was a top player at Southern Arkansas and is one of the school’s all-time leaders in wins. Leyton’s brother Brody Bohren also joins the squad as a freshman.

Biola finished 18-9 a year ago and earned an NCAA playoff berth, falling to Azusa Pacific in the first round. The Eagles return their top two players, both of them First Team All-PacWest selections in Sebastian Herrera and Alexei Prokpchuk. Herrera had a 11-12 record at the No. 1 spot and Prokpchuk was an impressive 21-4 while playing No. 2. Head coach David Goodman, in his seventh season, also welcomes back No. 3 Antonio R Varona (11-10), No. 5. Alex Sedeno (15-7), and last year’s No. 6. Callen Hein (11-3).

Just three poll points behind the Eagles are the Golden Eagles of Concordia. Concordia finished 8-12 last year and return five players from that squad including Leon Czarnikau and James Caddies. Head coach Jonthan Sanchez, in his 12th season, also has five incoming freshman on his 2023 squad.

Hawai`i Hilo checks in at No. 6, just a season removed from winning the PacWest title in 2021. The Vulcans, who reached the NCAA semifinals in 2019 and 2021, return eight players but lost their top three players including Martin Soukal, who is the PacWest’s all-time leader in tournament wins with eight. Leading the returnees for head coach Kallen Mizuguchi (fifth year, 36-21) is Luca Matheiowetz, who had a 12-4 record last season playing at spots 3-5.

Colorado schools Metro State University Denver and Colorado Mesa are next. MSUD was 14-7 last year and coach Josh Graetz returns their top players in Jeanloup Auzias (No. 1, 14-7), (No. 2, 16-7), Alejandro Jimenez (No. 3, 14-5), and Billy McDermott (No. 4, 10-3). CMU lost its top two players but return No. 3 Jorge Abreau, who was 10-13 a year ago. The Mavericks head coach is Dan MacDonald, entering his 18th season.

Fresno Pacific and Holy Names round out the field. The Sunbirds will be guided by first-year head coach Sam Gaeddert who has five returnees in his second-year program, while Holy Names Tony Canedo is in his second season leading the Hawks.

The PacWest teams do not play an official conference schedule, but many of the top teams will face off against each other before the PacWest Championships (April 20-22) in Surprise, Arizona. Only the top eight teams in the conference will qualify for the tournament as determined by the PacWest selection committee, meaning teams will have to play their way into earning a berth.