Chapman’s Denio Regains Game After Division Change

For her first two years of college, Deborah Denio was a competitive blur for the Cal State Fullerton women’s tennis team. She would play hard, practice hard and then often hit the weight room for a couple hours.

She managed to make solid grades as a physical education major, but her studies were secondary. “I was always an athlete who kind of went to school,” said Denio, who was the Titans’ No. 1 singles player last year.

Love of the game kept her going, but Denio eventually wore out her shoulder and developed serious tendinitis, which forced her to ice the shoulder between games during matches. “I was in tears every time I played,” she said.

It got so bad that after the season, Denio decided she would have to quit playing indefinitely. She also decided to leave Fullerton and her full scholarship and transfer to a school where she could study physical therapy.

Enter Chapman, in nearby Orange and known for a strong program in physical therapy. “I didn’t know Chapman really existed,” said Denio, who is from Bakersfield, “until I ran across it in a physical therapy book.”

Chapman tennis Coach Sergiu Boerica was surprised when Denio walked in his door. It isn’t often that a Division I player inquires about transferring to Division III Chapman.

“The first time I talked to her,” Boerica said, “I asked, ‘Are you sure this is going to happen?’ ”

It happened. And after four months of rehabilitation over the summer, Denio started playing again. She steadily gained strength and played well enough this season to qualify for the NCAA Division III Championships starting Saturday in Kalamazoo, Mich. Denio is the first Chapman woman to qualify for the national tournament.

Other than her tough new course load, Denio said her biggest adjustment was to the style of play in Division III. “I’m used to girls playing aggressive and attacking the net,” she said. “And they don’t do that much in Division III. They stay back and lob and they try to pick you apart.”

At first, Denio was frustrated by that style and worried her game was suffering, but Boerica helped by giving her other competitive outlets such as tournaments against tougher players. She also often practiced with the Chapman men’s team.

Denio, who is 18-7 for the Panthers, said she has learned to be more patient, something that probably won’t be as necessary against the country’s top Division III players.

Denio said she isn’t putting any pressure on herself before the tournament. “I’m just looking at it as a chance to have a good time,” she said, “and play my best against some really good competition.”

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Denio’s presence helped the Panther women’s team to an 8-8 finish, its first non-losing season in the three years since the program was resurrected. The men’s team finished 8-7, its first winning season in Boerica’s four years as coach.

Boerica says the results show that Chapman tennis is on its way back. The Chapman men won three NCAA titles in the 1980s, but have struggled since athletic scholarships were eliminated.

Boerica said it is difficult to recruit tennis players to Chapman because of the high tuition and the availability of scholarships elsewhere, but, he said, things are still looking up.

“Next year, I have a bunch coming in,” he said. “There will be about eight freshmen who play competitive tennis, and that’s going to make a big difference.”

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The Southern California College softball team, which finished second to Azusa Pacific in the Golden State Athletic Conference, begins the NAIA Far West Regional tournament today at Northside Park in Azusa.

The third-seeded Vanguards (25-21) play second-seeded Azusa Pacific (42-10) at 9 a.m. Top-seeded Hawaii Pacific, 27-10 and ranked sixth in the nation, and fourth-seeded Cal Baptist (24-20) play at 11:30 a.m.

The winner advances to the NAIA national tournament, May 15-18 in Decatur, Ala.

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All-GSAC teams: Concordia third baseman Derrick Bly was named the Golden State Athletic Conference player of the year in baseball. Bly, a senior from Tucson, Ariz., led the conference in batting average (.465) and triples (10). He was second in hits (67), tied for third in home runs (10) and fourth in runs batted in (45).

Southern California College catcher Robert Pegg, a junior from Canada, was an honorable-mention pick.

Point Loma Nazarene’s Raul Gonzalez (Western High, Rancho Santiago College) was named a first-team catcher and Azusa Pacific third baseman Greg Folsom (Orange High, Orange Coast) and Westmont pitcher Chris Kurz (Edison High) were honorable mention.

In softball, SCC pitcher Jen Houston, a junior from San Jose; SCC infielder Jen Caruso, a senior who played at Liberty Christian High, and SCC outfielder Angela Wolf, a senior from Irvine High and Saddleback College, and Concordia outfielder Jodi Mercer, a senior from Saddleback College, were first-team selections.

Concordia pitcher Michelle Reuter and outfielder Trish Evans were second-team picks as were SCC catcher Michelle Murie, infielders Heather Rogers and Chrissy Vega and outfielder Angie Vega.

Point Loma Nazarene pitcher Jennifer Jessen (Troy High) was a second-team pick.