Posted on: Friday, April 30, 2004

UH hopes to serve notice at tourney

By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawai'i's tennis teams are in Houston today for the Western Athletic Conference Championships. Titles would be a long shot. The Rainbows are seeded sixth and the Rainbow Wahine seventh.

Instead, UH coaches John Nelson and Carolyn Katayama are staring straight into the future.

"This team has grown so much together," Katayama says. "Whoever is joining the team next year will sense a very positive feeling. They are all going in the right direction. We'll have a core group of seniors next year and they have a goal — to be nationally ranked. Anybody we add on better share that goal."

Katayama has spent the past two days doing damage control for her team, which is seeded a slot lower than UTEP. UH beat the Miners 6-1 during the season but UTEP got the nod, and an escape from the dreaded "play-in" round, via a better power rating from the International Tennis Association.

Katayama kept the news from her team as long as she could, and now is trying to use it as motivation.

"I'm not mad, but just frustrated at having worked so hard to beat three WAC teams and now it doesn't count," Katayama said. "I told the girls they'll have to just prove it on the court. ... Stay in the present. You can't control what happens before and after."

Hawai'i (8-13) opens against 10th-seeded Nevada (1-14) at 3 a.m. HST. The winner gets a 1 p.m. quarterfinal date with second-seeded SMU at Jake Hess Tennis Stadium.

A year ago, the Rainbow Wahine swept San Jose State in the "play-in," then fell to Fresno State, which has won the last two WAC championships. FSU is seeded first this year, and ranked 15th nationally.

Hawai'i has lost eight of its last nine, with three defeats by a 4-3 score. Junior Lauren Fitzgerald (16-10), who plays at No. 1 primarily, and Renata Camago (14-4), the team's sole senior, have the only winning records. Katayama calls Camago — a WAC Player of the Week in February — the team's most improved player.

The Rainbow men, who haven't won a first-round match in three years, open against defending champion Boise State today (8 a.m. HST). The third seed has an 11-match winning streak. The winner plays No. 2 SMU or No. 7 Nevada in a semifinal tomorrow.

BSU (42) is one of five WAC teams ranked nationally, along with top-seeded Rice (13), SMU (38), Fresno State (45) and Tulsa (60).

"We've been working on discipline since Day 1 — take care of business, be in the present, do the right thing, win or lose," says Nelson, 8-14 in his first year at UH. "The guys are a lot more disciplined than they were at the beginning of the season.

"Our attitude is, we've got nothing to lose."

Sophomore Ryan Sceats (14-11) and junior Dalibor Ptak (10-11) have the 'Bows' best records and are 12-7 at No. 1 doubles.

Nelson hopes to bring in up to three players next year to give his team more depth while it works on its discipline.

"We're trying to create a habit with the guys so they can do things without thinking," Nelson says. "Then we can teach more technical skills. Next year discipline will be more of a habit, then we can focus on strategies."

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8043.