Jump From Player to Coach Pays Off for Scott

Last year, Matt Scott was the sixth man on the Southern California College men’s tennis team. This year he is the head coach.

Not exactly a reversal of fortune, but it’s a twist that puts him in an interesting situation: coaching his former teammates.

“Especially because some of them are better players than I am,” Scott said. “But I think I’m probably a better coach than a player. I went 19-6 at No. 6 last year--I know how to win and that’s what I’m trying to teach the guys.”

The message appears to be getting through. After losing their first two matches, the Vanguards have won 10 in a row. The streak includes victories over Seattle University, ranked 20th in the latest NAIA poll, and Golden State Athletic Conference rival Point Loma Nazarene, ranked 15th.

SCC has largely the same team as it had last year when the Vanguards won the conference title, advancing to the NAIA national tournament, where they finished 14th.

Only Scott and Ross Andel, who ran out of eligibility, are out of the rotation. They have been replaced by Paulo Barriga, a junior transfer from Kalamazoo Valley (Mich.) Community College, and Kevin Villar, a senior who was the team’s seventh man last year.

Senior Mattias Johansson (17-7) is playing No. 1 singles and sophomore David Robbins (9-6) is playing No. 2, but neither has been dominating in conference play.

SCC has received strong play from junior Ryan Lewis and Barriga, each of whom are 4-0 in conference matches in the Nos. 3 and 4 spots. Villar, who also played on the SCC soccer team, and Jeff Baker are switching off in the Nos. 5 and 6 positions.

Saturday, SCC (10-2, 3-1 in conference) will be at No. 18 Westmont.

Scott had planned to co-coach with Rob Pearson this season, but Pearson, who was named the 1995 conference coach of the year, didn’t have enough time to remain as coach.

So Scott, 24, inherited the job and brought in Bobby Carlton, a former SCC player who is now a teaching pro in Fullerton, to be his assistant.

So far Scott is enjoying the ride. “I like it a lot more than I expected I was going to,” he said. “I didn’t think I wouldn’t enjoy it but I didn’t think I wanted to make a career of it. I guess it’s easy to enjoy when you are winning.”

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The Southern California College women’s tennis team is also coached by someone who played GSAC tennis last year. Coach Shea Abby won the conference title for Westmont.

Quynh Le, whom Abby beat in the conference final, is SCC’s top player again. She is ranked 26th in the nation in NAIA. Le and Wendy Andel are ranked 10th in the nation in doubles.

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Chapman’s softball team faltered a bit over the weekend at the Cal State Hayward tournament, but the Panthers’ 4-3 finish shouldn’t hurt their standing as the top-ranked NCAA Division III team in the nation.

Chapman was 2-1 against Division I teams (beating Santa Clara and Harvard, losing to Portland State) and 0-2 against Division II teams (Chico State and Humboldt State).

Humboldt State, which lost in the Division III semifinals last season, beat the Panthers, 12-11, in a wild semifinal Sunday.

Chapman had 15 hits, left 10 on base and took leads of 5-0 and 11-8, before Humboldt rallied with four in the sixth inning.

It was a rare shaky performance for Christy Guidorizzi, Chapman’s All-American pitcher. Pitching in her fifth game in three days, she walked 10 and gave up 10 earned runs. Previously, she had given up only 12 earned runs all season.

“She was tired,” Chapman co-coach Janet Lloyd said. “Afterward she cried a little and said she was totally embarrassed. But she really had no reason to be embarrassed.”

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Chapman co-Coach Lisle Lloyd is the winningest active Division III softball coach in the nation. Lloyd, who is 440-283-2 in 14 seasons at Chapman, surpassed Luther (Iowa) College’s Betty Hoff, who is 431-259-1 in 28 seasons.

Notes

Southern California College baseball pitcher Kevin Withers was named Golden State Athletic Conference pitcher of the week. Withers, a senior from Phoenix, pitched a five-hit shutout in a victory over Biola. SCC softball pitcher Jen Houston was named conference pitcher of the week. Houston, a sophomore from San Jose, was 3-1 with a 1.21 earned-run average for the week. . . . Ali Carlson, a junior second baseman on the Concordia softball team, was the conference player of the week. Carlson, from Ahwatukee, Ariz., batted .538 with three doubles, a home run and five runs batted in. . . . Scott Davis, a 6-foot-3 shooting guard at Fullerton College who played at Loara High, signed a letter of intent with Southern California College. Davis averaged 19 points in 16 games at Fullerton before missing the final 12 games because of a broken ankle.