CHARLESTON, W.Va. (Apr. 19) -- It was like deja vu all over again.
The Shepherd College men's tennis team had to come from behind again to win their second straight West Virginia Conference Championship.
Last year, the Rams found themselves a slightly distant second place to front-running West Virginia Wesleyan at the end of the opening day of the conference tournament. Shepherd rallied on the second day to tie the Bobcats. The Rams won the tiebreak by virtue of their regular-season victory over Wesleyan and therefore, Shepherd became conference champs.
This year was a virtual carbon copy of 2002. After opening day (Friday), Shepherd was in third place behind West Liberty and, of course, Wesleyan. The Rams brought their best tennis to the final day; passing West Liberty's point total; and then tying West Virginia Wesleyan once again just like the year before. And once again, the Rams win the conference tournament by virtue of their regular-season win over the Bobcats earlier this year.
"I told my players before the finals that this time last year, we were actually a further bit down," said Shepherd Coach Chris Stambaugh. "But we came back then I think they somehow knew that we could do it."
"We had to quit saying to ourselves, 'This should be a lot easier', just because we were fairly dominant in our conference all season. The post-season, or the playoffs, is where the best tennis players will come through. Our guys played amazing tennis to pull this one off," said Stambaugh.
The West Virginia Conference Championship literally came down to the last match, with the Shepherd's number three doubles duo of Greg Selby and Wray Sherman snuffing out West Virginia Wesleyan's team of Scott Green and Steve Wahl by a 6-1, 6-4 score. With the win, Selby--a senior--closes out his career with his fifth individual conference title.
Also earning individual titles for the Rams were freshman David Seifarth at number five singles and the sophomore number two doubles team of Brian Clarke and Tim Halter. Halter also won the number four singles title for Shepherd.
"Tim played at an extremely high level for most of the tournament," said Coach Stambaugh. "Maybe for just one set he played like a nut. But for the remaining ninety percent of the time he completely outclassed his competition. I watched as several of his opponents just stood in disbelief after some of the shots Tim hit. He was unstoppable."
Brian Clarke, a Hedgesville native, managed to reach the semifinals at number one singles and win number two doubles despite what one would consider to be a major problem for a tennis player--a broken hand!
Clarke had fallen on his racket hand during a match back on March 21st. The X-rays showed a fracture near his thumb. However, the break did not extend to his heart. Clarke chose to continue playing, only losing to two of his ten opponents in the WVIAC and winning a crucial quarterfinal match-up with Colin Saluja--Wesleyan's number one senior player.
"What happened to Brian pretty much inspired everyone on our team to focus more on playing hard rather than making excuses," Stambaugh said. "I believe that probably all great players simply learn how to come through adversity. And that's what we have here with Brian--a great player."
As a result of winning the West Virginia Conference, Shepherd receives an automatic bid to the Great Lakes Regional in early May with place and time to be determined.
Shepherd finished it's regular season 20-2 and 10-0 in the WVIAC. The championship marks two years in a row for the Rams and five since men's tennis began at Shepherd in 1970.
WVIAC TEAM FINISH
1. SHEPHERD
2. West Virginia Wesleyan
3. West Liberty
4. University of Charleston
5. Concord
6. Fairmont State
7. (tie) West Virginia State
West Virginia Tech
9. (tie) Bluefield State
Davis & Elkins
Salem International
SHEPHERD RESULTS:
Number One Singles
Quarterfinals-- Clarke (S) d. Saluja (WVW) 6-4, 6-2; Semifinals-- Mark O'Neill (CC) d. Clarke 6-4, 6-4.
Number Two Singles
Quarterfinals-- Mike Farrell (SC) d. Justin Layfield (FSC) 6-0, 6-1; Semifinals-- Farrell d. Michael Marie (UC) 6-3, 6-4;
Finals-- Ryan Walker (WVW) d. Farrell 7-5, 0-6, 6-3.
Number Three Singles
Quarterfinals-- Clark Campbell (WVW) d. Selby (SC) 4-6, 7-5, 6-2.
Number Four Singles
Quarterfinals-- Halter (SC) d. B.J. Cline (BSC) 6-1, 6-0; Semifinals-- Halter d. Bobby Bicker (UC) 6-0, 6-1; Finals-- Halter d. Rob Wallace (WL) 6-1, 6-0.
Number Five Singles
Quarterfinals-- Seifarth (SC) d. Pat Cinalli (FSC) 6-0, 6-0; Semifinals-- Seifarth d. Jimmy Jamie (UC) 6-0, 6-0; Final-- Seifarth d. Scott Green (WVW) 6-0, 6-3.
Number Six Singles
Quarterfinals-- Sherman (SC) d. Paras Rathor (CC) 6-0, 6-0; Semifinals-- Lester Callaway (WVW) d. Sherman 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Number One Doubles
Quarterfinals-- Farrell/Eric Stevenson (SC) d. Barry Ndinya/Tochukwu George 9-8 (7); Semifinals-- Dan Riske/R. D. Bolyard (WL) d. Farrell-Stevenson 6-1, 6-2.
Number Two Doubles
Quarterfinals-- Clarke/Halter (SC) d. Bo Burton/Doug Hanna (WVS) 8-0; Semifinals-- Clarke/Halter d. Campbell-Callaway 2-6, 6-3, 6-0; Finals--Clarke/Halter d. Bicker/Drew College (UC) 6-4, 6-2.
Number Three Doubles
Quarterfinals-- Selby/Sherman (SC) d. Jamie/Daniel Judy (UC) 8-1; Semifinals-- Selby/Sherman d. P.J. Demasi/Chris Nichols (CC) 6-0, 6-0; Finals-- Selby/Sherman d. Green/Wahl (WVW) 6-1, 6-4.
