Men's Tennis Adds Two Players
6/23/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
June 23, 2004
SPOKANE, Wash. - Gonzaga University head men's tennis coach John Gant has announced the addition of two players for the upcoming year.
Marco Pineda from Don Bosco Technical Institute in Rosemead, Calif., and Michael Azuma of Punahou High in Honolulu, Hawai'i, will join the Bulldogs this fall.
Pineda was a two-time All-Camino Del Rey first-team selection as a junior and senior, MVP both years and capped his senior season with an unblemished 69-0 match record. He helped Don Bosco Tech to its first of four league titles, the team posting a 78-2 record during his career.
In 2002 he finished 49th in the Boys' 16 singles in southern California and in 2003 finished 48th in the Boys' 18 singles. Last December he was ranked 185th in the nation.
Azuma capped his career by being a first-team Interscholastic League of Honolulu (ILH) selection and winning the ILH doubles title, upsetting the No. 1 seeds and teammates in the championship match. Azuma finished second in the Hawai'i High School Athletic Association doubles championship after entering the tourney as the No. 1 seed and getting upset in the title match by the same teammates as were defeated in the ILH.
Azuma finished third in the HHSAA doubles competition in 2003 with a different partner than this past season, and lost his first match in the HHSAA tourney as a sophomore.
"Marco is a very explosive player with a tremendous amount of experience. His game is well suited for collegiate tennis and he will help us immediately. Azuma has national USTA experience and was an outstanding high school player who will continue to improve his game," Gant said.
