Senior Bruno Santarelli had a big year as he walked away with First Team NAIA and ITA All-American and All-GSAC recognition. He also was honored as the ITA Senior Player of the Year and NAIA CU Champions of Character awards at the NAIA National Championships Banquet held in Mobile, AL. Santarelli moved from the #3 singles spot in 2011 to the #1 slot in 2012.  In addition to Santarelli, Rafael Coutinho was also named to the All-GSAC team.

Final NAIA Poll

NAIA All-Americans

"Bruno Santarelli had a really inspiring year," head coach Jonathan Sanchez said.  "He knew he had to step up this year and he did.  He was so self-motivated, he pushed everyone on the team, and really played for the team."

"Being the 2012 ITA Senior Player of the Year is a great honor," Bruno Santarelli said.  "This past season was the best of my career, and probably one of the best years of my life.  Everything worked well, I graduated from Concordia, and had a great time and season with my friends and teammates, and I was able to compete and play at the same level of the best players of the NAIA.  Finishing it as the Senior of the Year and the First Team All-American is an honor, and a great achievement that I never thought I could reach."

Bruno Santarelli and Gernot Hagemann started the year off with wins over BYU and UCLA in the 55^th Annual Southern California Intercollegiate Championships last fall before falling to the #1 seed USC in the semifinals. In season play, the pair went 16-5 in doubles play with key wins over #9 Vanguard, #7 Westmont and #1 Fresno Pacific. In post-season play, Santarelli and Hagemann claimed the Independent College Doubles Title in the 112^th Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament on April 30.

"The transition from #3 singles to #1 singles was tough, but I believe that most of the players in our team raised their level of tennis, which means that everybody played better and harder than the previous year," Santarelli said.  "Because of that I believe was a natural transition since we didn't get any new players that were supposed to play at the top position in singles.  I had to step up my game.  I also believe that being a senior gave me a lot of experience and confidence to believe that I could do it, but it is normal for most of the players to play some positions higher in the following years.  I just have to say thanks to my teammates and coaches who helped me play better and raise the bar this year."

The GSAC was loaded in 2012, with seven of the eight teams ranked at the end of the year.  Concordia ended the year at #12 in the NAIA polls.  They were preseason #11 and the spent the majority of the year in the #11 and #12 slots.

"Gernot Hagemann is a great player!  He is probably the player with the best hands and volleys in the game in our conference," Santarelli said.  "He also has a great serve and returns, and a strong head to handle the situations of pressure.  He is a great player and it was a pleasure to play with him and win The Ojai doubles this year.  But I would say that what made our partnership good was our friendship.  He has a similar character to me, and we are great friends.  We think of things in the same way, which makes it easier on the court."

The Eagles started the season with GSAC wins over (RV) Hope and (RV) Biola on the road.  They fell into a three-game losing streak after that though, dropping matches to #4 Azusa Pacific, #7 Point Loma Nazarene, and NCAA Division II school UC San Diego.  They bounced back with another win over (RV) Biola, before falling to #1 Fresno Pacific.  Injuries and other problems bothered Concordia for the remainder of the season, as coach Jonathan Sanchez was never able to put the team on the court he envisioned before the season.  But credit CU, as they kept battling every day.

"It was a struggle for sure.  But considering, I think we did quite well," Sanchez said.  "At any point during the year we had at least one of our top six players out.  I would have loved to have seen our full lineup play, but it doesn't always go your way."

On March 10, the Eagles recorded their biggest win of the regular season, with a 5-4 home win over #7 Westmont.  They swept Hope 9-0, before losing three-straight again against East Coast schools Amherst College and Middlebury College, in addition to a 3-6 loss to #7 Point Loma Nazarene on March 27.  CU came back again though with a  7-2 win over the UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs on March 30 and a 5-4 win over #9 Xavier (LA), which were sandwiched over a loss to #4 Azusa Pacific.   They beat #7 Vanguard on the road on April 9, before losing three straight to #10 Westmont, #1 FPU, and #9 Vanguard to close the regular season.  Concordia finished sixth in the brutal GSAC.

The Eagles Men went 9-13 overall, 6-8 GSAC and went to the NAIA National Championships in Mobile, Alabama where they played into the second round. It marked CU's fifth-straight trip to the NAIA Championships and fifth in school history.  In the first round the 12^th seeded Eagles claimed a 9-0 victory over Asbury (Ky.) and then faced 5^th seed Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) where they took a 1-5 loss. Despite the loss, the Eagles played to win until the end.  CU head coach Jonathan Sanchez called the win over Asbury his team's most complete victory of the year, with everyone playing well.  Against Auburn Montgomery, Santarelli and Hagemann won at the #1 doubles spot.  Concordia lost 1-5, but had three singles matches going where they were looking to split in game three in all of them.

Bruno Santarelli and Rafael Coutinho ended the year with #12 and #25 ITA national singles rankings respectively.

This season marks the end of college tennis for Bruno Santarelli and Ryan McNamara who have been on the team for the past four years (2009-2012). CU has truly benefited from the performances from these two seniors.

"After four years of Concordia, is hard to describe my best memories," Santarelli said.  "But without a doubt I would mention all the seasons we had, all the great moments where we traveled to matches, stayed in hotels together, and visited new places that in my whole life I thought I would never visit.  But I think that the National Championship of my sophomore year, and senior year are my best memories.  The first one because it was the last moments with our ex-coach John Norton, and we did very well and had a great time as a team.  The second because it was my last one, where I got to spend time with friends and people that I will have forever in my life, and also because I played my best season and was recognized by many people.  Also, my friends and teammates, which I plan to stay in contact for many years in my life, are in my favorite memories." 

Ryan McNamara

"I am really excited for next year," Sanchez said.  "We are bringing in some good players and I am eager to see where it goes."

Here are highlights of the awards of the CU Men's Tennis team throughout the past four years:

Bruno Santarelli (2009-2012)

NAIA All-American First Team (2012)

NAIA All-American Honorable Mention (2011)

NAIA Champions of Character Award ("09, "11, "12)

ITA Senior Player of the Year ("12)

ALL-GSAC Team ("12)

CU Iron Eagle Award for sportsmanship ("10)

Ojai Independent College Doubles Champion ("12)

Rafael Coutinho (2012)

All-GSAC Team ("12)

Gernot Hagemann (2012)

NAIA Daktronics Scholar-Athlete (2012)

GSAC Scholar-Athlete (2012)

Ojai Independent College Doubles Champion ("12)