COLLEGE DIVISION NOTEBOOK : Nations Unites the Revival of SCC Tennis Team

Greg Nations, the top player on the Southern California College men’s tennis team, didn’t have to stay until the final point of the match against Occidental on Tuesday.

Hours before, Nations had won his singles and doubles matches in straight sets, but he stayed to help cheer on his teammates, who completed a 6-3 victory.

“That’s rather unusual for a good No. 1 player,” SCC Coach Ron Prettyman said.

Nations, a senior playing his first season of tennis at SCC, is among the top-ranked players in the National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics District 3, but Prettyman said his leadership is as important as his tennis skills.

“Just by virtue of his ability, he’s gained a lot of respect,” Prettyman said.

Before last season, SCC hadn’t hada men’s tennis team since 1975. Prettyman played for the 1975 team and when he became the college’s athletic director in 1983, one of his goals was to revive the tennis program.

He achieved that goal last season and guided SCC to a 6-16 record. The victory over Occidental Tuesday in the Vanguards’ final match was only the Vanguards’ seventh in 21 matches, but it avenged a 7-2 loss this year. Prettyman said he is impressed by the team’s progress, but that the players were frustrated by the losses.

“A lot of times kids at this age totally evaluate their success on their won-lost record,” Prettyman said. “I know for a fact that we participate in one of the toughest NAIA conferences in the nation but they don’t always realize that.”

Nations, a graduate of Valencia High, has ample experience in the conference and the district, having played for three seasons at Westmont before transferring to SCC last year. He took two seasons off from collegiate tennis--spending part of a year in Europe traveling and playing in tennis tournaments and then came to SCC and redshirted last season.

He was drawn to SCC by the college’s communications department, which offers an emphasis in video production. He also found a helpful coaching staff in Prettyman and assistant coach Mike Rehtorik, a former Orange Coast College player who is the head professional at the Costa Mesa Tennis Club.

Nations, who won district doubles titles his freshman and sophomore season at Westmont, lost a coin flip with Mike Gennette of Cal Lutheran and will be third seeded in the district singles championships, which start this morning at Upland Tennis Club. He was 18-5 in singles, losing four of the matches in district competition, but he said he’s playing his best tennis of the season.

“I’ve played everybody before so I know everybody’s game,” he said. “There are four, five or six of us that can turn on the faucet and do the job.”

The season-ending doubleheader Saturday between the Southern California College and Christ College Irvine baseball teams lost some of its luster after the Vanguards and Eagles were swept in Golden State Athletic Conference doubleheaders last Saturday. Each team can still qualify for the district playoffs.

The teams are tied for second with 11-7 records, two games behind Azusa Pacific, which finishes with two games at Westmont Saturday, and one game ahead of Cal Baptist, which has two games against Point Loma Nazarene.

Two conference teams get automatic bids to the four-team playoffs, which start next Thursday, and the third-place team will play in a one-game playoff for the fourth berth.

A doubleheader sweep by either SCC or CCI on Saturday at Christ College ensures at least a second-place finish.

The Chapman softball team, which won its first California Collegiate Athletic Assn. championship by sweeping Cal State Dominguez Hills in a doubleheader Tuesday, collected the top conference awards.

Lisle Lloyd was named coach of the year, Jacki Blake was named pitcher of the year and Sandy Olivas was named player of the year. Blake, who is 22-4 with an 0.49 earned-run average, and Olivas, who is batting .477 and leads the nation in home runs (13) and doubles (19), were first-team all-conference selections and pitcher Cheri Schreck, catcher Kristina Webb, first baseman Rose Connor and outfielders Trina Honea and Christy Wurster were named to the second team.

Chapman, ranked No. 2 in NCAA Division II, has a chance for a rematch this weekend at the Sonoma State tournament against No. 1 Portland State, which defeated the Panthers twice in the Cal State Bakersfield tournament last month.

The Panthers (40-10), who finish the regular season in the tournament, will play Cal State Hayward Friday and Sonoma State, UC Riverside and Notre Dame Saturday, and could meet Portland State Sunday. The winner of a rematch between the two teams would likely be the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Division II playoffs.

The Vanguard softball team will play Azusa Pacific in the three-team, double-elimination district playoffs at 11 a.m. Friday at Cal Lutheran in Thousand Oaks.

SCC (17-17) finished in second place in the conference and three players--pitcher Ixchelle Kistler, catcher Joyce LaPointe and outfielder Stephanie Wills--were first-team all-district selections.

Wills led the district with a .462 batting average. Infielders Linda Bilyeu and Cheryl Gordon and outfielder Diana Franklin made the second team.

College Division Notes

Christ College Irvine also had three players named first-team all-district: infielder Kathy Carroll, outfielder Judy Lofton and utility player Michelle Vail. Pitcher Lisa Merenda made the second team.