Proud Of Our Alumni!

From Boise State Coach Greg Patton:

I must admit, I am addicted to this stuff. To say that I love the thrill of the battle, and especially the sweet taste of a team victory over a perennial Collegiate Tennis Power would be an understatement.

My head is still swimming and pounding from our 5-1 victory over Stanford here in Palo Alto. This victory over the 9th ranked team now puts our team at 3-0 for the season.

The weather was kind to us and allowed us a window to play the match (hallelujah!). We decided to play the singles first (we usually begin with the three doubles) since the forecast called for more rain in the late afternoon.

Due to the on and off rain, our singles matches started an hour later than the scheduled 1pm starting time. Due to the wet courts here in Palo Alto, we could only start our #1 and #2 singles (the Shields brothers). Stanford jumped to a quick lead by winning the first set in both matches, but then Piotr Dilaj came to rescue the day, by joining the fray and taking his first set 6-1. Whew, it gave us a chance to recollect ourselves. Once these three matches were starting their second sets, our #4, #5, and #6 players, Eric Roberson, Blake Boswell, and Brent Werbeck went to work in their singles matches. There was great pressure on them, for they all went on their courts knowing that our top two players had lost their first set.

All I can say, is once those three went on the courts, there was a determination and resolve on all six courts. From that moment on all of our players played with a calm confidence and quickly captured the momentum of the matches.

Although we lost three of the six first sets, the pendulum was quickly swinging in our favor and I could feel the confidence emitting from the racquets.

First, Clancy at #2 singles raised his level and played a very consistent and deliberate match which got him the second set, and carried him to a 6-2 win in the 3rd set.

Luke at #1 singles quickly turned the tide of his match from the energy of his brother (who was on the adjacent court) and won the 2nd set 6-1, and then jumped to a quick lead in the third which carried him to a 6-3 win in the third set.

The first player off the court with a Bronco win was Piotr Dilaj (won 6-1, 6-2). Clancy then made the match 2-0 for Boise State by his third set win.

Then you could feel how close a major victory for the Broncos was. Eric Roberson at #4 and Brent Werbeck at #6 both won their matches simultaneously to seal our team victory. (Eric won 6-1, 6-2 and Brent won 6-3, 6-3). Luke then was finishing up his stellar play with a 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 win at #1. Score now 5-0. And I think all of us were tingling all over to know that we had just defeated a top ten team in their home.

Freshman Blake Boswell had a tremendous match but fell short of victory 7-5, 7-6. The great thing about Boise State Team matches is that when a player might lose his match, if the team wins, that player has just as much joy as his teammates. I know that the sting of a loss at Stanford was soothed by the team victory.

Special thanks to the Boise State Women's Gymnastics team who came out and provided such great energy and support to our men. Nothing provides greater inspiration and motivation than the talented and wonderful female athletes of Boise State. (We went to their meet with San Jose State last night, and they reciprocated with a vitalizing enthusiasm).

Also, we want to thank the wonderful families who housed and cared for our players during our stay in Northern California. Thanks to my dear friend John Hubbell (coaching comrade of mine during our National Coaching days) who set up the housing with my former teammate Gordon Collins (Manager of the Courtside Athletic Club). Special thanks to the Segall family (Mark, Nikki, Lea, Eli, and Noah) and to the Solomon/Orloff family for providing TLC and warm hospitality.

I hope that many of you were able to watch the webcast of this great victory for Boise State. One of my dreams for the future of Boise State Tennis, is to build a permanent indoor tennis center to replace the Bubbles at the Boas Indoor Tennis Center, and to install cameras on court in order to be able to conduct live webcasts of the matches.

Next up for the 3-0 Broncos is Santa Clara University today (Sunday, Jan. 28) at SCU at 11am.

Again, we are hoping that the rain will stop tonight and provide a sunny day for our match with Santa Clara who is presently 2-0.

Boise State (#25) defeated Stanford (#9)

Singles In order of finish

#3 Piotr Dilaj (BSU) defeated Blake Muller (Stanford) 6-1, 6-2

#2 Clancy Shields (BSU) defeated Richard Wire (Stanford) 1-6, 6-3, 6-2

#6 Brent Werbeck (BSU) defeated Kevin Kaiser (Stanford) 6-3, 6-3

#4 Eric Roberson (BSU) defeated Paul Morrissey (Stanford) 6-1, 6-2

#1 Luke Shields (BSU) defeated Matt Bruch (Stanford) 3-6, 6-1, 6-3

#5 Eric McKean (Stanford) defeated Blake Boswell (BSU) 7-5,7-6

Go Broncos

From Boise State Coach Greg Patton:

I must admit, I am addicted to this stuff. To say that I love the thrill of the battle, and especially the sweet taste of a team victory over a perennial Collegiate Tennis Power would be an understatement.

My head is still swimming and pounding from our 5-1 victory over Stanford here in Palo Alto. This victory over the 9th ranked team now puts our team at 3-0 for the season.

The weather was kind to us and allowed us a window to play the match (hallelujah!). We decided to play the singles first (we usually begin with the three doubles) since the forecast called for more rain in the late afternoon.

Due to the on and off rain, our singles matches started an hour later than the scheduled 1pm starting time. Due to the wet courts here in Palo Alto, we could only start our #1 and #2 singles (the Shields brothers). Stanford jumped to a quick lead by winning the first set in both matches, but then Piotr Dilaj came to rescue the day, by joining the fray and taking his first set 6-1. Whew, it gave us a chance to recollect ourselves. Once these three matches were starting their second sets, our #4, #5, and #6 players, Eric Roberson, Blake Boswell, and Brent Werbeck went to work in their singles matches. There was great pressure on them, for they all went on their courts knowing that our top two players had lost their first set.

All I can say, is once those three went on the courts, there was a determination and resolve on all six courts. From that moment on all of our players played with a calm confidence and quickly captured the momentum of the matches.

Although we lost three of the six first sets, the pendulum was quickly swinging in our favor and I could feel the confidence emitting from the racquets.

First, Clancy at #2 singles raised his level and played a very consistent and deliberate match which got him the second set, and carried him to a 6-2 win in the 3rd set.

Luke at #1 singles quickly turned the tide of his match from the energy of his brother (who was on the adjacent court) and won the 2nd set 6-1, and then jumped to a quick lead in the third which carried him to a 6-3 win in the third set.

The first player off the court with a Bronco win was Piotr Dilaj (won 6-1, 6-2). Clancy then made the match 2-0 for Boise State by his third set win.

Then you could feel how close a major victory for the Broncos was. Eric Roberson at #4 and Brent Werbeck at #6 both won their matches simultaneously to seal our team victory. (Eric won 6-1, 6-2 and Brent won 6-3, 6-3). Luke then was finishing up his stellar play with a 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 win at #1. Score now 5-0. And I think all of us were tingling all over to know that we had just defeated a top ten team in their home.

Freshman Blake Boswell had a tremendous match but fell short of victory 7-5, 7-6. The great thing about Boise State Team matches is that when a player might lose his match, if the team wins, that player has just as much joy as his teammates. I know that the sting of a loss at Stanford was soothed by the team victory.

Special thanks to the Boise State Women's Gymnastics team who came out and provided such great energy and support to our men. Nothing provides greater inspiration and motivation than the talented and wonderful female athletes of Boise State. (We went to their meet with San Jose State last night, and they reciprocated with a vitalizing enthusiasm).

Also, we want to thank the wonderful families who housed and cared for our players during our stay in Northern California. Thanks to my dear friend John Hubbell (coaching comrade of mine during our National Coaching days) who set up the housing with my former teammate Gordon Collins (Manager of the Courtside Athletic Club). Special thanks to the Segall family (Mark, Nikki, Lea, Eli, and Noah) and to the Solomon/Orloff family for providing TLC and warm hospitality.

I hope that many of you were able to watch the webcast of this great victory for Boise State. One of my dreams for the future of Boise State Tennis, is to build a permanent indoor tennis center to replace the Bubbles at the Boas Indoor Tennis Center, and to install cameras on court in order to be able to conduct live webcasts of the matches.

Next up for the 3-0 Broncos is Santa Clara University today (Sunday, Jan. 28) at SCU at 11am.

Again, we are hoping that the rain will stop tonight and provide a sunny day for our match with Santa Clara who is presently 2-0.

Boise State (#25) defeated Stanford (#9)

Singles In order of finish

#3 Piotr Dilaj (BSU) defeated Blake Muller (Stanford) 6-1, 6-2

#2 Clancy Shields (BSU) defeated Richard Wire (Stanford) 1-6, 6-3, 6-2

#6 Brent Werbeck (BSU) defeated Kevin Kaiser (Stanford) 6-3, 6-3

#4 Eric Roberson (BSU) defeated Paul Morrissey (Stanford) 6-1, 6-2

#1 Luke Shields (BSU) defeated Matt Bruch (Stanford) 3-6, 6-1, 6-3

#5 Eric McKean (Stanford) defeated Blake Boswell (BSU) 7-5,7-6

Go Broncos