Kingsmen Return to Court for 2014 Campaign

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – Head coach Mike Gennette, back for his 21st year as the head coach of the Cal Lutheran Kingsmen tennis team, returns five players from his 2013 squad that tied a school record for wins and advanced to the Third Round of the NCAA Division III Men’s Tennis Tournament.

Headlining the returners will be senior Alex Nichols, a Second Team All-SCIAC performer from a year ago. In his first year with the program, Nichols played primarily as CLU’s No. 3 singles player and went 16-9 overall and 5-4 against opponents from the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) while finishing the year as the No. 23 rated player in the West Region. Nichols also went 16-10 in No. 2 doubles, often pairing with junior Connor Treacy.

A former Second Team All-SCIAC recipient as well, Treacy battled injuries for much of the season, but still went 10-8 overall and 3-4 in the conference as CLU’s No. 4 singles player. When paired with Nichols for No. 2 doubles, the duo went 13-6 and won its match against No. 1 ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps during the SCIAC final. This fall, Nichols and Treacy advanced to the doubles finals of the UTSA/ITA Small College Regional Championships.

Also back for his second year with the Kingsmen is sophomore Ian Slater. In his debut season, Slater went 1-1 in singles and 2-3 in doubles competitions. Sean Handley and Chris Hartman round out the sophomore class after each saw time in SCIAC matches a year ago.

Gennette also brought in four newcomers for the 2014 season. Junior transfer Moises Cardenas will hope to contribute for CLU after a strong fall season and decorated junior college career. Cardenas advanced to the final four of the UTSA/ITA Small College Regional Championships singles competition last September and earned All-American honors while at Pierce Community College in 2013. Fellow transfer Jesse Knight comes from Tyler Junior College in Texas and will look to make an impact in 2014.

Cal Lutheran also welcomes two freshmen to the team in Jesper Lunding-Johansson and Fergus Scott. Lunding-Johansson comes from Stocksund, Sweden while Scott arrives from Wellington, New Zealand. Both players are over 6-foot-3 and will look to use their length to break them into the starting lineup.

After defeating Occidental 8-1 on Feb. 8, the Kingsmen open their home schedule Thursday, Feb. 13 with Westmont. The match at Pouslon Tennis Center is set to get underway at 2:00 p.m.

Roster: 2014 Men’s Tennis Roster
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