Cerritos College sophomore men's tennis player Nathan Eshmade (Kings Baptist, Australia HS), who is undefeated in singles play, has signed a letter of intent to continue his education and playing career at UC Santa Barbara. Eshmade, the #1-seeded player for the upcoming Southern California Regional Tournament, recently won the South Coast Conference singles and doubles championship for the second year in a row.

"I decided to choose UC Santa Barbara because of their tennis reputation and my goal from the beginning was to play at a Division I university," said Eshmade, who is 22-0 in singles play this season after going 25-2 as a freshman and reaching the semi-finals of the state championships.

Eshmade (pictured) also considered Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, UC Irvine and Loyola Marymount University, but chose to sign with the Gauchos. The success of two previous community college players that signed with UC Santa Barbara, as well as the reputation of head coach Marty Davis, made the decision as easy one. Eshmade's coach in Australia, John Fitzgerald, played against Davis professionally, which also helped him make a decision.

"Coming out of Australia, my decision was to go to a school in either California or Florida, and deciding on Cerritos has turned out to be a great decision," added Eshmade. "(Head Coach) Alvin Kim has been a great coach to work with and has helped me so much in my two years here. My mum and dad have been very supportive and I'm excited that they will get a chance to come out to the States and see me play when I'm at UC Santa Barbara."

Over the course of his Falcon career, Eshmade has gone 47-2 in singles play, while in the off-season, he reached the semifinals of the USTA/ITA Small Colleges National Championship in Florida after winning the Southern California USTA/ITA championship in singles and doubles with teammate Amadi Kagoma. The two are seeded #1 in doubles and have posted an 18-2 record.

Photos by Daryl Peterson