The University of La Verne men's tennis team placed seventh at the SCIAC Championship Tournament (April 18-19), falling to Cal Lutheran and Whittier in Friday action before defeating Caltech Saturday in the seventh-place match.
The Leopards opened against the #3 seed Kingsmen at the Upland Tennis Center, falling 6-1 in first round action. The lone victory came in doubles action as the team of Mario Backes and Richard Delgado prevailed 8-2. CLU won two of three doubles matches and claimed four singles contests in straight sets.
ULV battled Whittier in the second round, suffering a tough 5-4 setback to the Poets. La Verne dropped two of three doubles matches with the tandem of Adrian Laygo and Evan Mobley posting an 8-6 win for the Leopards. The two teams split the six singles matches with Backes, Mobley and John Paul Arreglado earning victories. Backes defeated Ted Wyatt 6-2, 6-1 while Arreglado topped Justin Delong 6-2, 2-6, 6-2. Mobley recorded a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 triumph over Danny Benesch.
La Verne claimed its lone team win on Saturday over Caltech in Claremont, taking a 7-2 victory over the Beavers. ULV swept all three doubles matches and won four of the six singles matchups. Backes, Arreglado, Laygo and Mobley and Alex Muresan each posted straight set wins.
Backes earned All-Conference honors and was the lone ULV representative on the All-Conference team. The senior from Bazel, Switzerland was selected to the All-SCIAC Second Team in a vote by the conference coaches.
