Among Ventura County players competing at the college level this winter, Kyle McMorrow of the University of Washington is having as good a season as any of them. The Thousand Oaks High graduate was in Southern California last week and his three-day stay provided two of his most severe tests of the dual campaign.
McMorrow is well positioned inside the top 25 on the latest Men's Division I singles rankings and last week he drew a pair of other top-25 players — No. 9 Sebastian Fanselow of Pepperdine and No. 20 Andre Dome of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Both matches lasted well beyond two hours and although the 14th-ranked McMorrow split them, the one victory was especially rewarding.
Playing the deciding match at No. 1 singles, McMorrow outlasted Dome 4-6, 7-6, 7-5 as the No. 17 Huskies defeated No. 52 Cal Poly SLO 4-3 last Friday afternoon at Pepperdine's Ralphs-Straus Stadium. Dome, a 5-foot-11 junior from Arroyo Grande who hits two-handed forehands and backhands, was unbeaten in dual matches this season before that match.
The win was McMorrow's fifth over a top-25 opponent this season as Washington cooled off a Mustangs team that had won 10 of its last 11 matches.
Two days earlier, McMorrow was locked in another grueling battle against Fanselow, a 6-4 junior from Essen, Germany. Fanselow battled from behind to take a 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 victory as No. 8 Pepperdine earned a 7-0 home triumph for its eighth straight victory.
McMorrow, who will return to Ventura County next month for the 112th Ojai, received high praise from his coach, Matt Anger, for his clutch performance against Cal Poly's Dome.
"I love having Kyle out there for us with things on the line," Anger said. "Dome is a talented guy and hit shots all over the court. They were both coming up with shots. It was pretty good tennis."
Other area college players who making news this winter:
William Duncan, Carnegie Mellon: The Newbury Park High graduate, who is having an excellent freshman season for the Division III school in Pittsburgh, defeated Evan Charles 6-3, 6-4 to earn the clinching point at No. 3 singles as the 21st-ranked Tartans defeated Mary Washington 6-3 on Saturday. Duncan is 9-2 in dual-match singles play and is playing well at No. 1 doubles.
Daniel Nguyen, USC: The Oxnard native was named the Pacific-12 Conference Player of the Week on Monday as he helped the top-ranked Trojans defeat No. 10 Florida 6-1 on March 19. Later on Monday the Trojans routed Boise State 6-1 and Nguyen, playing No. 1 singles for just the third time this season, earned a 6-2, 6-1 win over James Meredith. Nguyen, ranked No. 13, has a 10-match winning streak in singles.
Moira Hedberg, Eastern Washington: The Oxnard High graduate, named the Big Sky Conference athlete of the week two weeks ago, is playing quite well at No. 1 singles and doubles in her freshman season for the Eagles. Hedberg and her Eastern Washington teammates were in Northern California last weekend and lost to Sacramento State and San Jose State. Despite absorbing singles and doubles defeats in both matches, Hedberg has a 7-7 record in singles and doubles this season.
Sam Querrey's ATP Tour ranking has slipped to No. 102 following the BNP Paribas Open and a second-round loss at the 2012 Sony Ericsson Open, and will likely not be enough to help the Thousand Oaks High graduate climb back into the top 100 when the new rankings are released on Monday. South Africa's Kevin Anderson ousted Querrey from the Sony Ericsson with a 6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-3 victory last Saturday. Querrey had held a 5-1 record vs. Anderson in their head-to-head matches before Saturday's encounter. ... Lauren Wagner of Oak View defeated Carlotta Trevino of Ojai 6-2, 7-5 to win the women's open title at the 12th annual St. Patrick's Tournament at the Oxnard Tennis Center. The men's open championship was played Wednesday night between Fabian Schaefer of Ventura and Guillaume Gauthier of Camarillo. Schaefer defeated No. 1 seed Ethan Lopez of Oxnard in the semifinals, 6-4, 6-3. ... Brendan McClain of Ventura won his first two matches in the Boys 18 main draw of the USTA ITF Claremont. Sivan Krems of Thousand Oaks and Dominique Schaefer of Ventura each won their opening match in Girls 18s, but both players lost close second-round matches on Tuesday.
ITF — International Spring Championships (Carson), April 2-8
USTA — 112th Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament, April 24-29.