Kpulun King of Ojai

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(4/28/07 - Men's Tennis) OJAI - After two years of heartbreak, junior Tim Kpulun was able to climb the final hurdle and capture the men's singles title for independent colleges at the 107th Ojai Valley Tournament, Sunday morning at the Ojai Valley Athletic Club.

The Ojai, as it is known around the tennis world, awakens the sleepy town of Ojai once a year to provide the energy and excitement of a Grand Slam event and provides a great obstacle for the weak-minded and those who can't overcome the pressure of loud fans and towering bleachers. 

Kpulun, the top seed in the tournament for the second-straight season, not only battled through a difficult draw for the first piece of silverware in Concordia tennis history, but he also had to overcome the demons of two-straight championship round losses. In 2005 as a freshman at Fullerton College, Kpulun came up one win short of the title in the men's community college division. Last season, he was ousted by Boris Bakalov of conference-rival Azusa Pacific in the finals.

This time around, Kpulun won his way into the finals with three straight-set victories to set up a clash with Mathius Weber, also from Azusa Pacific. The experience Kpulun had gained in his prior trips to the tournament proved vital against the young German, who was making his first appearance at the event as a freshman.

"Although the final score (6-1, 6-3) was decisive, the match itself was anything but a rollover," said head coach John Norton, who also had his day at the event when playing collegiately at Point Loma Nazarene. "Weber is a deceivingly tough player. His patient groundstrokes will not draw a crowd, and his overall game seems quite milde and unthreatening. He has a very tough passing shot, however, and his serve is well placed and very strong."

Another Eagle, Daniel Ndlela, could pay testament to the thoughts of his coach. Ndlela captured the first set against the German, 7-6, but dropped the final two sets by identical 6-4 scorelines as Weber began using his passing shots to near perfection.

Weber made his way to the final by inviting players to attack the net, whereupon he counters with thundering passing shots. Kpulun, however, was well prepared for the freshman phenom. He was able to counter each passing shot and outlasted Weber from the baseline. Kpulun also had his service game firing on all cylinders, allowing him to steal some easy points throughout the match.

"Tim's mental game is just as sturdy as his baseline game," said Norton. "Although Weber was able to grab a few games in the second set, Tim kept the pressure on and closed the match out with a brilliance that has become his trademark."

Teammate Augusto Elias was the #2 seed in the tournament and advanced to the quarterfinals after posting a 6-3, 6-2 win over Philip Wulf of Point Loma Nazarene. However, he was unable to knock off Mattijs Bolsius of Azusa Pacific in the semifinals, falling 6-3, 6-4.

Two doubles teams entered the event for the Eagles and both fell victim to 9-7 scorelines in various rounds. Jared Haley and Brian Newell battled #3-seeded Kyle Godfrey and J.B. Schiller of Westmont in their first match, but came up on the losing end of a tight match.

Joining them in the draw was Ndlela and Chris Nguyen, a team that had posted some impressive wins down the stretch of GSAC play. The duo was able to get some revenge for their teammates by knocking off another Westmont team, Burke Marold and David Moore, 8-1. Paired up against NCAA Division II foes Andy Muesse and Zel Sperry of Sonoma State, the #4 seed in the tournament, the Eagle duo also fell victim to a 9-7 scoreline.