UC Irvine Notebook : Top Anteaters From South Africa, With Love

Greg Patton, the Anteaters’ men’s tennis coach, says he beats the bushes to find the right kind of player for his team. He is looking for players with team attitudes, controlled court manners and winning personalities who will enhance the image of his school’s tennis program.

But Patton didn’t have much difficulty finding two players who have been key contributors to the Anteaters’ current winning season. Patton didn’t even recruit his No. 1 and No. 3 singles players, who have helped Irvine to a 13-3 record and No. 6 national ranking.

“They just fell from the sky into my arms,” Patton said.

More accurately, they fell from South Africa.

Mark Kaplan (No. 1) and Richard Lubner (No. 3), who together are the Anteaters’ most winning doubles team, were both top-ranked juniors in Johannesburg. And neither planned to come to UC Irvine.

Kaplan, who competed at Wimbledon as a junior player, came to the United States on a recruiting trip in 1985.

“In South Africa you either go into the army or go to college,” Kaplan said. “And the college tennis there is not as good as it is here.”

After visiting a number of colleges, including SMU and Pepperdine, he visited his aunt in Irvine. She told him to go down the street to look at the campus. He did, happened upon a tennis match where he met Patton, and decided to stick around.

“I preferred Irvine to the other places,” Kaplan said. “I liked Greg when I first saw him, and I just liked the whole setting here.”

The next year, Kaplan had a visit from Lubner, his former doubles partner in South Africa. Lubner, who had completed one year of mandatory army service in South Africa (which Kaplan had avoided by going to college), also was visiting Pepperdine. He was all set to move to Malibu when he dropped by Irvine.

“I knew without a doubt I wanted to come here,” Lubner said. “I liked the whole area and I got along great with all the guys. Everyone is on the same wavelength here.”

Said Patton: “It was the quickest recruiting I’ve ever done. We talked for an hour and he said, ‘I’m coming to Irvine.’ ”

The South African connection has proved to be successful. Kaplan started as the No. 6 player, but moved into the top spot last year as a sophomore. He made it all the way to the NCAA semifinals before losing to University of Miami’s Andrew Burrow, who won the title.

But this season, Kaplan--whose goal is to revisit Wimbledon as a professional--struggled, losing 6 of 7 matches in the early going.

“Day in and day out, Mark was playing the best players in the country,” Patton said. “He struggled but at the same time he was working on all aspects of his game. And the team always stayed supportive of him.”

Kaplan lost to the country’s top-ranked player, Robbie Weiss of Pepperdine, and the third-ranked player, Scott Melville of USC. He has also met the players ranked 6th, 10th, 16th, 20th, 40th, 43rd and 53rd.

A turning point came when he beat 20th-ranked Dan Goldberg of Michigan. Since that match, Kaplan has won 7 of 9 matches, and will get another shot at Weiss and Melville early next month. His record is 10-9 and he is ranked 44th.

“Mark has the ability to win the NCAA,” Patton said. “I’m sure he will move up in the rankings. He has never had an easy match.”

Kaplan said: “I never was weak in any of my matches. I just started building up my confidence.”

Lubner, in contrast, has had a relatively struggle-free season. He is 18-5, 13-2 in dual matches, and tied for 79th in the rankings. Patton calls him the “Cinderella story” of the team.

“He’s one of the best No. 3s in the country,” Patton said. “He’s the stomach of our team . . . a rock-hard stomach.”

Lubner attributes his success to hard work and assistant coach Bobby Perez.

“I don’t want to call myself a Cinderella story,” Lubner said. “I like to work hard, I actually get a kick out of it. I knew someday everything would click and now I feel it’s starting to.”

Lubner and Kaplan are clicking as a doubles team. Though they have played most of the season in the No. 2 spot, they have Irvine’s best record (10-1).

“We work so well together,” Lubner said. “I have so much confidence playing with him. It helped the adjustment (to living in the United States) knowing Mark. It’s nice to have that familiarity, to be able to talk about the old days. We get together and have the hugest laugh.”

The ninth annual Anteater/Marriott men’s tennis tournament begins today and runs through Sunday. Included in the 16-team tournament are 6th-ranked Irvine, 21st-ranked Duke and Chapman, the top-ranked team in Division II.

Ranked singles players competing in the tournament include Jeff Hersh of Duke (23), Miles Walker of Chapman (tied for 32), Jonas Svensson of Minnesota (36), Jean LeClercq of Fresno State (40), Mark Kaplan of Irvine (44), Jason Rubell of Duke (tied for 56), Olivier Amerlinck of Chapman (59), Steven Jung of Nebraska (66), Casey Merickel of Minnesota (68), Scott McTeer of Duke (tied for 72), Lindsay Rawstorne of Weber State (tied for 82) and Trevor Kronemann of Irvine (tied for 93).

Irvine received a bye in today’s first round. The Anteaters were scheduled to play Claremont-Mudd, but the match was canceled because both schools are finishing final exams.

The top-seeded Anteaters will automatically advance to the winner’s bracket, where they will play the winner of the Chapman-Washington match.

If Irvine faces Chapman, it will be the first time since 1983 the teams have played and will pit the two top singles players in Orange County--Walker of Chapman and Kaplan of Irvine--against each other.

Other first-round games, played today, are Nebraska vs. Harvard, Duke vs. Yale, Wichita State vs. Minnesota, Weber State vs. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Utah vs, Dartmouth and Fresno State vs. Mississippi.

One is enough--Though the Anteaters’ men’s volleyball team has a record of 1-12, it is ranked 20th in the nation, a testament to the fact that there are not many top men’s volleyball programs in the country.

Irvine almost pulled off an upset of 11th-ranked San Diego State last week, winning the first two games. But the Aztecs came back to win the final three. The Anteaters play host to top-ranked USC Friday at 7:30 p.m.

Anteater Notes

The Irvine baseball team, off to its best start since 1981 at 19-13-1, opens Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. play Saturday at San Jose State. The three-game series runs through Monday. As of Wednesday, San Jose was 16-15 with a .271 team batting average and had six consecutive victories. . . . . Three PCAA teams--Fresno State, Cal State Fullerton and Nevada Las Vegas--are listed in this week’s baseball rankings. Collegiate Baseball lists Fresno State 6th, Fullerton 12th and UNLV 28th. Baseball America puts Fresno in the 13th spot, Fullerton 15th and UNLV 24th. The Anteaters travel to Fresno State next Thursday for a three-game series. . . . The Irvine men’s and women’s track teams will be in Palo Alto this weekend for the Stanford Invitational, an individual meet featuring the country’s top collegiate performers.