Slugs Strong at NCAA Individual Tournament

Dear Slug Tennis Fans,

Another season is in the books! Congratulations to the entire team for another amazing effort as we hit many milestones on our journey. Our young team established themselves as a team to recon with as our team ranking climbed into the top four! Far from where we like to end the season, we made progress towards the top teams. With the recognition of where we want to go combined with the desire and courage to attack the challenges in our path, the future looks bright!

Brian Pybas ended his stellar career with an amazing run at the NCAA tournament! He was honored at the West Region Senior of the Year and many felt he was the most deserving for the national award for his three national titles, six All-American selections, two Ojai titles and for being the best singles and doubles player in the country this season reaching the semi finals in singles and quarter finals in doubles! What is even more amazing is that he did this with a one handed backhand after suffering from an injury to his right hand following our loss to Claremont in the regional team finals. Hard to imagine what he accomplished with this handicap as he and Parker Larsen lost a heartbreaking 7-5 in the third match in the doubles to a team that went on to capture the title. In singles Brian saved two match points in his second round match and cruzed in his quarter final before bowing out to the top seed in the semi finals. He is a rare athlete who's presence will be greatly missed as we move forward. I am happy to say he will be joining team mate and fellow NCAA champion doubles partner Marc Vartabedian in Europe to continue his tennis.

Congratulations to Erich Koening for winning the National ITA Player to Watch award. It was most deserving for his amazing year in both singles and doubles as well as his leadership role in this year's campaign. Erich lost in the first round of the singles to the eventual NCAA singles champion Chris Goodwin of Emory in a well played one break a set match. As usual, Erich learned from the match and set the course for his future progress with the goal of being among the very best.

Parker Larsen showed he is one of the elite doubles players in the country moving from third doubles in the freshmen year to being an All-American and in contention to win titles as a sophomore.

We will be celebrating our season at an awards banquet on June 4th at the University Center where we will be honoring this years team along with the National Championship teams from 1996, 2001 and 2005. Any one interested in attending please go to the website at:
http://community.ucsc.edu/s/1069/index-2-column.aspx?sid=1069&pgid=913&gid=1&cid=1954&ecid=1954 We need to get the final count in to the catering department so please register by Tuesday at the latest.

Thanks for all your amazing support and I look forward to seeing as many of you as can make it at the banquet. Best wishes, Coach Hansen