Medlin Trying to Stay Off the Ball

Stepping on a loose ball is a fear of every tennis player.

It happened to Cal State Fullerton’s Amy Medlin last year in a match at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, forcing her to spend almost her entire freshman season out with torn ligaments in her ankle.

“It was only our third match of the season and I didn’t get back until the [Big West Conference] tournament,” Medlin said. “The courts aren’t that good at Cal Poly, and I was on a court with a retaining wall that was close. I pushed a ball toward the wall, but it rolled back and I didn’t see it.”

Medlin is determined to avoid being tripped up again in her college career.

“It was really a disappointment to miss so much of the season,” she said. “I couldn’t even walk for two weeks, and when I did get back, I had to play with an air cast for quite a while.”

Things have been going better for Medlin this season. She is 9-9 at No. 1 singles. She and senior teammate Debbie Vonusa are 11-6 at No. 1 doubles.

Medlin’s return is one reason why Coach Bill Reynolds’ Titan women’s team (8-11) has improved this season. “She’s made a tremendous improvement this year now that she’s confident her ankle is fine,” Reynolds said.

Reynolds says Medlin also is becoming more of an all-court player.

“She’s always been strong in the back court, but we’ve been working a lot this season on her net game and her serve,” Reynolds said. “We want her to come to the net more. It will widen the horizons of her game.”

Medlin says she’s also trying to be more focused. “I worked really hard in the off-season, and now I’m trying to concentrate more on every point instead of thinking about the game score or the match score.”

Medlin played at El Modena High, where she was one of Orange County’s top doubles players. Medlin decided to attend Fullerton primarily because she wanted to stay close to home.

“I’ve been playing tennis since my father got me started at 7, and playing Division I college tennis was always my goal,” Medlin said. “I’ve never had a goal of playing pro tennis.”

Medlin says her hopes revolve around doing well in college. “I think everyone on the team is more determined this year. We want to keep improving.”

The Titans have two regular-season matches remaining at home, against UC Santa Barbara April 7 and against Cal Poly Pomona April 14, before the conference tournament April 22-25 at Ojai.

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A crowd of 1,921 turned out Monday for the Titans’ exhibition baseball game against the Angels, which meant a good financial boost for the program. It will probably net $10,000.

Angel Manager Terry Collins said he’s pleased his team can help the Titans.

“It’s something we want to do,” Collins said. “George [Horton] and his staff do a great job, and they help us on different things, like using their field at times during the winter.”

Horton was pleased with the good showing by his team. The Angels won the game, 8-4, but the Titans had a 3-0 lead after five innings, thanks to the three-hit pitching of Ruben Jurado, a transfer from Arizona State making his first appearance of the season.

“Actually, we’ve played [the Angels] pretty well the last three years,” Horton said. “I’m sure the Angels aren’t playing their hardest, but I’m sure when they make a play, they’re going for it. It’s just that they’re not excited while our kids really are.”

Horton said Jurado, who surprised Titan coaches with his performance, will probably pitch again--this time in relief--in Fullerton’s three-game series at Pacific beginning Friday.

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Freshman Jon Smith, a Titan starting pitcher before he developed arm problems, will be back throwing soon, but his status remains uncertain.

“The report from the MRI he had was positive, and he’ll start throwing lightly again to see how it feels,” Horton said. “He says his arm feels better now, but if he can’t overcome the pain and stiffness, he will have to back off again. We’re not going to take any chances.”

Horton had planned to have sophomore Michael Garner redshirt this season, but that changed this week. “He hasn’t pitched this season, but we’re putting him back in the mix,” Horton said. “We wanted his approval since the season is half over, but he said he was ready to pitch. We think he can help us.”

The Titans also have regained catcher David Trentine, who has been out since breaking his foot rounding second base at Fresno State Feb. 14.

Titan Notes

Francisco Vazquez set a school record with a time of 3 minutes 58.59 seconds in the men’s 10,000 meters last weekend in the Stanford Spring Break Invitational. TraShawn Banford tied her school record in the triple jump at 36 feet 11 inches in a meet at UC Irvine. . . . Christy Sears was named Big West softball player of the week after going nine for 20 (.450) in six games last week. She hit safely in all six, and was two for three with a home run against North Carolina at the Georgia Tech Classic.