Juco notebook: SCC men’s tennis team going for gold

Scottsdale Community College finished a strong season in men’s tennis by winning the ACCAC region tournament on Thursday and is now poised to make a run at a junior college national championship.

The Artichokes went 10-0 in Arizona Community College Athletic Conference play for the second year in a row and finished this year at 16-4. Three of their losses came to NCAA Division I teams.

“This is one of the best years for us on record, and as good as I can ask for,” SCC coach Dave Critchley said. “Now we’ll take the next three weeks, keep practicing hard, scrimmaging and try to stay sharp so we can be in pretty good shape and make a push at possibly winning a title.”

SCC finished 12th last year but has improved its depth and hopes a strong schedule and hard work will pay off at the NJCAA tournament May 14-19 at Colin County Community College in Texas.

SCC is led by Daniel Luedi, Thomas Rizk, Alex Weiland and Haris Hadzihalilovic.

Luedi, a freshman from Switzerland who has already committed to the University of Arizona for the fall of 2008, and Rizk, who hails from Brazil, bring an international flavor to SCC.

Their efforts, mixed in with a cast of former state champion or state contender East Valley high school graduates, have helped SCC to be considered among the top junior college tennis teams in the nation, Critchley said.

Phoenix Brophy has five former players on this year’s team, including Weiland and Hadzihalilovic, a 2005 graduate.

Other former Brophy players on this year’s team include Adam Perez and Craig Kessler, who were the 2006 5A doubles champions last year, and Peter Firth.

Former Scottsdale Desert Mountain player Ross DeChant and Matt Whitney and former Scottsdale Christian Academy player Justin Miller round out a team of former state players who hope to advance even further in this year’s nationals.

SCC has played three NCAA teams, Arizona State, Louisiana-Lafayette and Eastern Washington. SCC narrowly lost the Eastern Washington match, 4-3.

“I think the main attraction of our program is that we are willing to play a tough schedule and this allows our players the type of exposure and playing experience necessary if they want a shot at moving up to the NCAA level,” Critchley said.

TENNIS

Mesa Community College dominated the All-ACCAC women’s tennis team for 2007, taking five of six singles spots and one of the three doubles teams.

Lynley Wasson, a Tempe Corona del Sol High School graduate, and Morgan Weatherby and Jennifer Mota, both Gilbert Highland graduates, were named to the first team, as were Ivette Certa and Chelsea Schultz.

Weatherby and Mota also made the first team for doubles.

Wasson and Brittany Guerrero (Mesa Westwood) were selected for second-team doubles.

All of the singles players were undefeated in conference play, as was the Wasson-Guerrero doubles team. The women’s team had an overall 16-0 record, which was the first time in more than 40 years that the Thunderbird women finished the regular season with an unblemished record.

The women’s team is considered a strong contender to compete in the NJCAA tournament in Tucson next month.

Basketball

Scottsdale’s Justin Ashbaugh has been selected a NJCAA basketball third-team All-American.

The 6-foot-5 sophomore forward, who played for Scottsdale Saguaro High School, will play this weekend at the second annual NJCAA Basketball Coaches Association All-Star game in Kilgore, Texas.