1995_02 Insight February 1995

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FEBRUARY 15,1995
SPORTS
Expectations sky-high
for men's tennis team
♦ Freshman leads most
talented CSUF tennis
group ever into '95 spring
season
By Robbie Miner
Sports Editor
When people think of Fresno Slate
sports, tennis doesn't immediately
come to mind. That could soon
change.
Thirty-year-old head coach, Peter
Smith, leads an assemblage of players who unquestionably represent the
most talented men's tennis team the
school has ever had.
Smith's top gun is a freshman, who
in his first collegiate tournament finished atop a 64-man field to claim the
singles crown at the Rolex Region 7
Championships. Frcdrik Bergh. a recruit from Karlskoga. Sweden, hasn't
performed like the typical rookie. But
this 6-foot-5-inch intimidalordoesn't
lake the typical freshman attitude to
ihc court.
In only his second college tournament, the prestigious ITA Indoor
"Now we're the
favorites instead
of being the
underdogs/'
Fredrik Bergh
Championships, Bergh upset the No.
2 seed in the country before falling in
the quarterfinals two weeks ago. "I'm
going to win — otherwise, I wouldn't
go." said ihc dead-eyed Swede a few
days before the event.
A national lillc seems conceivable
for ihis rising star, bul even a Iop20
finish would place him in a category
all by himself at Fresno State. No
CSUF men's tennis player has ever
received All-American status. Bergh
could be the first — for that matter,
so could Ivan Keskinov. or Bryan and
Ryan Juinio.
In short, this team has talent.
"If the season ended before-it
started, we'd have four All-Amcri-
cans," said Smith as he sifted through
the preseason national rankings.
Keskinov, the sole senior on Fresno
State's six-man wrecking crew, entered the spring season ranked 15th
Fredrik Bergh
in the nation. Junior twin brothers
Ryan and Bryan Juinio made their
appearances at No. 34 and 60, respectively, and junior Blago Pctrov (No.
98) also hit the charts. The Juinios
also turned heads with their No. 9
ranking in the doubles bracket.
"Now we're Ihc favorites instead of
being the underdogs, so they'll be
shooting for us." said Bergh, the No.
9 seed in the preseason polls.
The Bulldogs were the only team
in the nation with five singles players ranked in the top 100. Not bad for
a school that just one year ago qualified for its first NCAA championships.
Not to be excluded from the list is
another junior, newcomer Jake
Bragonier. He may be the No. 6
player on this deep, talented team, but
like Bergh, he made a great first impression with coach Smith. To kick
off the fall season, the Pepperdinc
University transfer won the singles
title of the second annual Bulldog
Tennis Classic.
And in Ihc world of Division-1A
collegiate tennis, it takes the combined efforts of six individuals and
one doubles team to win in conference play. As the 'Dogs found out
Wednesday in their conference opener
against New Mexico, they aren't the
only WAC team wilh depth.
The No. 29 Lobos upset the Bulldogs 6-3 and ruined their bid for their
first WAC championship. As for New
Mexico, the favorable home-field
matchup with Fresno State helped
them all but ensure their fourth
straight conference title.
"We don't have the luxury to set
schedules, and this was the only lime
and place that we could fit the match
in." said Smith. "I don't like the
schedule, but there's nothing we can
do about it."
The Bulldogs' week didn't get any
easier as they faced No. 31 Arkansas
Friday and 23rd-ranked Kansas on
Saturday. Smith's team rebounded
nicely, avenging the UNM loss with
back-to-back 6-1 and 5-2 \"
Three ranked teams in three different stales over a four-day span — not
exactly the kind of scheduling Smith
enjoys, but one that's inevitable in
college tennis. To top it off, Fresno
State traveled to Palo Alto Tucday to
face the Stanford Cardinals.
Although a WAC championship
would have been nice, the 1995 Bulldogs have bigger and better things in    team, I think
mind.
"I'm shooting for a national championship myself," said Bergh. As a
Photo by Todd Wars how/Sports Information
Senior Ivan Keskinov returns the ball in a match earlier in the fall season. He is ranked 15th in the
NCAA preseason polls.
finish ii
5 at NCAAs."
Smith has more realistic
mind, hut still believes his t
the top    the ability to finish up near the lop of Americans," said Smith .
the nation. "Our ultimate goal, though, is ti
;oals in       "We want to have our first All- work really hard; when that happens
:am has    American, hopefully a few All- good things will result."
Baseball, from page 6
Freitas and this group of i
has ignited an exciting start lo the '95
Although they're hilling .294 as a
learn, it's not ihcir bats lhai have made
the difference. Defensive gems have
characterized the streak. The middle
infield tandem of Fisher and Reynoso
could be one of the finest defensively
in the nation. In right field, Kaitfors'
speed, hustle and rocket arm have
made him a fan favorite. In the California scries alone, he made three diving catches and had two outfield as-
"Early on our defense should hold
us together before our pitching comes
around." said coach Bob Bennett after the team's first win at Pacific.
Bennett was right about the defense
in the field; he may have underestimated the skill on the mound. Il may
be only seven games into the season,
but already the pitching staff looks to
be one of the strongest in recent
school history. After dominating the
potent bats of Stanford Friday and
Saturday. Kevin Gunther and
Brendan Bchn appear poised to put
a lot of fear in WAC hitters this year.
Throw in the new members to the
staff: Robert Donnelly. "Shorty"
Farfan and Brad Tucker, and you
can't help but get excited.
Softball- Pitching doesn't exactly
appear to be a weakness for the soft-
ball team either. In their first six
games of the season last weekend ihcy
outscorcd the opponent 37-3. Needless lo say, they won the San Jose
State tournament.
All three pitchers from last year return, including Ail-American
Maureen Brady. Last season Brady
led the nation in victories (36) and
appearances (52), while finishing second in innings pitched (321) and 22nd
in ERA (0.98). In 1995, the workload
should not be so extreme.
"I love having the ball," said Brady.
DeLiddo, from page 6
"But it gives our learn a bigger advantage when they don't see the same
pitcher every lime down ihc stretch."
In 24 1/3 innings of work last weekend, the iwo other members of the
starting rotaiion. Jennifer Clark and
Kelly Sparks, allowed only two runs
while striking out 22 and winning all
four of their decisions. A year ago
these two sophomores combined for
13 wins the entire season.
The San Jose State tournament over
the weekend was a yawncr for the
"Dogs. Next weekend will be a different story. The San Diego State tournament features three top 10 teams,
including 1994 NCAA runner-up
CSU Northridgc.
Men's Basketball- After two lough
road losses to Colorado State and
Wyoming, the Bulldogs couldn't have
been happier to gel back home. In 28
years of basketball at Selland Arena
the men's learn has won 290 games
while losing only 106. Afier an 82-
56 win against Hawaii Thursday and
a 66-58 victory against San Diego
State Saturday, the 'Dogs arc 10-5 at
Selland Arena this season.
Away from home they're 2-6. It
won't gel any easier cither. The Bulldogs' next three games are at Air
Force. BYU and Utah. The scenario
doesn't look good, but don'l count
them out yet.
Maybe it's just me, bul I think I sec
a vague light at the end of the tunnel.
That light's being ignited by the improved play of the Bulldogs defense.
In the previous 11 WAC games this
year, the Fresno State 'D' had allowed
an average of 70.9 points per game.
In the two games at home last week
they gave up an average of only 57
points. What's the difference?
Coach Gary Colson finally has his
22-dcfense clicking, and the players
arc just now starting to realize its effectiveness.
"It's like a man-to-man defense; we
just trap it," said Darnell McCuiloch.
"We've always had the 22. it's just
working better now."
After the Bulldogs' devastating 23-
0 run against Hawaii Thursday.
Colson explained it well when he
said, "The run was totally fueled by
the defense — it's the first time our
22-D has worked all season."
As a result of the new-and-improved
defense the Bulldogs averaged 42.5
boards over the last iwo games, 10
above ihcir WAC average. In those
two games they also scored more
thatn six points over their average.
The reason is more easy transition
baskets set up by — you guessed it
— the play of the defense.
Track and Field- Four-lime All-
America n David Cox broke a 10-ycar
school record Feb. 4 when he cleared
18 feet 5 inches in ihc pole vault. The
senior returned to Reno Saturday and
broke it again. That aroma of a national title's got to be getting stronger and stronger for Cox. "I want lo
win indoors," he said. "The ability's
there."
Other winners last weekend at the
Holiday Inn Classic were Moses
Kearney (high jump, 6-10 1/4);
Janisha Richardson (400 meters,
56.01); Kipp Ortenburger (mile,
4:09); Danielle Nelson (women's mile,
5:12); Lilies Zazaboi (shot pui (41-9
3/4) and Felicia Brown (18-8 1/2).
Another athlete who's been burning
up the Fresno State track lately and
had a successful weekend, was Tanya
Dooley. Dooley, whose eligibility ran
out lasl season after earning All-
Amcrican recognition, placed third in
the 500-yard sprint at the Sunkist Invitational in Los Angeles Saturday.
Competing for the Fresno State Track
Club, Dooley finished in 104.33,1.69
seconds behind winner Sandie
Richards. Other winners in the meet
included Olympians Jackie Joyner-
Kersee, Mike Marsh and Mark
regular season because of an injury.
By WAC tournament time, beginning
March 5, the No. I seed in the 142-
class should be ready lo continue his
mission for a national crown.
Unlike fellow-senior teammate
Zinkin, Abas has not watched the
wrestling program grow from the beginning of its roots. What the All-
Amcrican from Oakland has experienced, though, is the program's
growth spurt, which started his first
year of competition in 1991.
That 19-1 team improved 18 spots
in the national polls from the year
before, finishing No. 25. In claiming
his first All-Amcrican honor in 1992-
93. the sophomore fueled the Bulldogs to a No. 8 ranking, the best in
ihc school's history.
Last season, the icam finished 11 th,
the second-best finish ever.
"I was part of the team where you
could really tell that we were shoot-
Photo by Dan Helmbold/lntight
Wrestling coach Dennis
DeLiddo accepts a plaque
Wednesday In recognition of
his 200th victory.
Clear.
The rest- The men's tennis team
didn't start its spring season like it
hoped Wednesday, losing their opener
to defending WAC champs New
Mexico. The 'Dogs rebounded over
Ihc weekend and defeated two top 35
teams on the road. Coach Peter
Smith has got to be optimistic about
the season ahead. With a freshman
ranked ninth in the nation (Fredrik
Bergh), Smith must be salivating
when thinking even farther ahead ...
Dennis DeLiddo's No. 9 Bulldogs
suffered a slight set-back with a loss
to I7ih-rankcd Arizona Slate Friday,
but man-handled No. 10 CSU Bakers-
field iwo days earlier. The 'Dogs now
have three weeks to rest up for the
WAC championships. Gerry Abas,
two-time runner-up at 142, has missed
action the last two weeks with a shoulder injury, but will be in prime shape
come March 4. "I could probably
wrestle now, but there's no need to
rush it," said Abas... Congratulations
to assistant volleyball coach Joey
Vrazel. After four years at Fresno
Stale, she will now take over the head
duties at Purdue. "She turned mc from
just an average player into the player
I am today," said the school's all-time
assist leader Brenda Gregersen ...
Oh yeah, the women's basketball
team lost by 29 points to 5-17 UTEP
Saturday. How could I forget!
ing up." said Abas. "When you come
into a program and you're part of the
tradition-builders, it feels good."
The Bulldogs arc traditionally evolving into a perennial top 20 team, but
DeLiddo believes his '95 squad can
surpass the achievements of even that
'93 team for which he earned runner-
up national Coach of the Year honors.
The difference he noted is consistency.
"We'll have eight underclassmen
starting now that Abas is out (two
freshmen, four sophomores, two juniors and iwo seniors). They've been
coming through; it's just a little scary."
Just as the inexperience factor may
seem frightening to DeLiddo, the intensity he brings to every meet and
practice can be intimidating to his
young wrestlers.
"I demand the best that they can do
and I don't accept anything less," said
the soft-spoken DeLiddo as he leaned
back in his chair with a smile. "But if
they give it their all, then I'll hug them
or whatever."
"The best thing about coach
DeLiddo is that he's intense," said
Abas. "Bul he also has the ability lo
turn it off."
Since leading Clovis High to three
consecutive state titles between 1974-
76 and a 145-7-1 record over a 10-
ycar span, CSUF's top 'Dog has lifted
the Fresno State wrestling program
from mediocrity and turned it into one
of the finest in the country.
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