Wichita State men’s tennis earns top seed despite coach’s health problems

Live scoring on the internet kept Wichita State men’s tennis coach Brad Louderback updated on the Shockers when he couldn’t travel with the team.

Instant, but not very gratifying.

“I had a horrible time,” Louderback said. “I was living every point for six matches — on a computer. In some ways, I wished I was back in the olden days and didn’t know what was going on.”

WSU played eight road matches, all without Louderback, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer in December and underwent surgery on Jan. 20. Two weeks later, he developed a hernia. Recovery kept him off the road and set the stage for a trying, and ultimately triumphant, season for the Shockers. They begin play at 10 a.m. Saturday as the top seed in this weekend’s Missouri Valley Conference Championships at Coleman Tennis Complex and Crestview Country Club.

WSU’s women are also the top seed after winning their eighth consecutive MVC regular-season title and winning 42 of a possible 43 dual points in seven matches. Their first match is at 9 a.m. Friday against eighth-seeded Evansville.

With Louderback at home, WSU went 1-7 in its road matches and 1-1 on a neutral court, with three of the losses 4-3.

“It was tough,” senior Sergio de Vilchez said. “He’s the one who runs everything. When you’re in trouble, you have someone to say ‘Why don’t you do this.…’ Instead of that, you have to go on your own.”

Louderback’s absence put the team in the hands of third-year assistant coach Kevin Montisano and director of operations Nick Taylor, as well as adminstrators who traveled. Louderback, 58, prepared the lineup and scouting report, as usual, for Montisano to read to the team the night before the match. During practices and home matches he coached as usual, although he admitted to tiring quickly when he went home for the evening.

“It was a really neat situation for me to watch (Montisano),” Louderback said. “A year ago, I don’t know if he would have been ready. After one whole year and him having to take over for a couple months, it’s really prepared him. Sometimes, under tough situations is how you learn the best.”

An injury to No. 1 singles player Tin Ostojic added to the adversity. He sprained his right ankle in a practice in early April and didn’t play in an MVC loss to Drake or a win over Southern Illinois. He played doubles against Illinois State.

“Not the best player on the team, the best player in the conference,” Louderback said. “Our captain, our senior, our leader. We lose him and we still come back and beat SIU and Illinois State.”

Those wins gave WSU the MVC regular-season title. There are four MVC men’s tennis teams. They will combine affiliate members from the America East Conference, which also lacks the necessary number of teams for an NCAA automatic bid, for this weekend’s tournament.

Ostojic, a senior who is 14-4 at No. 1 singles, could return this weekend.

“We’re optimistic,” Louderback said. “It’s probably going to be Tin’s call. He hasn’t been able to hit. We’re looking at three weeks without a lot of play.”

WSU won its third MVC regular-season title and the circumstances made the accomplishment especially gratifying for Louderback. The Shockers, while they hadn’t won a regular-season title since 1998, have won 24 post-season tournaments.

“I’m out for a couple of months,” he said. “We lost five 4-3 matches, all to ranked teams … heartbreaks … and then, to boot, Tin. I’m so proud of these guys.”

This story was originally published April 28, 2016 at 6:53 PM with the headline "Wichita State men’s tennis earns top seed despite coach’s health problems."