CMC75 Moments: 1963 Men's Tennis Takes Program's First League Title
As part of the buildup to the 75th Anniversary celebration for Claremont McKenna College (visit CMC's 75th Anniversary Countdown Page to learn more), we are reliving many of the great moments from CMS athletic department history over the 75-day countdown from April 17 to July 1. If you were a part of this great moment and would like to add to the memories, or if you would like to submit your memories of your own favorite CMS Athletics moment, fill out the form on our main 75th Anniversary page.
Great Moments from 75 Years of Athletics
1963 Men's Tennis: Stags Take SCIAC with Perfect League Record
The Stags are well known as national tennis powers these days, with two national championships in 1981 and 2015 to their credit. It was in the 1962-63 seasons, though, when Bob Goss, Dave Moffett, Barry Swayne and Joe Zerboni, part of a class that went undefeated on the Claremont-Mudd freshman team in 1961, helped to first put the fledgling program on the map. In the fourth varsity season for Claremont-Mudd in 1962, the foursome led the Stags to the NAIA District 3 Championship. Goss took the NAIA District singles crown with a 6-2, 10-8 win over Ed Gulick of Pomona, and Goss and Moffett teamed for a 6-4, 7-5 win over a Pasadena College team for the NAIA District doubles title. At nationals, Goss and Moffett earned a three-set victory over a team from Dubuque to advance all the way to the NAIA Quarterfinals.
The Stags followed up their breakthrough 1962 season with the program's first SCIAC title in 1963, earning a perfect 10-0 record and defeating traditional SCIAC power Redlands 6-3 for the clincher, marking one of only two times in a 36-year span between 1950-1985 that Redlands did not win at least a share of the SCIAC (along with 1958). Goss won his match against Redlands 8-6, 7-9, 6-0 at No. 1 singles, Moffett cruised to a 6-1, 6-1 win in his match (part of a 19-3 season in singles that set a school record for winning percentage at .864 that stood for 30 years), and Swayne added a three-set win as well. After the win, Claremont-Mudd achieved a No. 6 national ranking in the NAIA, placing the program in the top 10 nationally in its fifth year of varsity competition.
At the 1963 nationals, Zerboni advanced to the fourth round of the NAIA Singles Championship, while Goss and Zerboni reached the NAIA Semifinals in doubles. Zerboni and Swayne both had doubles winning percentages over .800 in 1963, which remained in the top 10 single-season percentages in school history all the way up until the 2015 national championship season 52 years later. Zerboni (.814) and Swayne (.796) still rank No. 2 and No. 8 in career doubles winning percentage at CMS, respectively.
Due to their success in 1963, the Stags also earned an invitation to face some legendary tennis names at a tournament in Pasadena, where Goss and Moffett dropped a first-round match to a doubles team from UCLA which included Arthur Ashe. Moffett also dropped his first round match (6-3, 6-1) to Rafael Osuna of USC, who went on in 1963 to win the US Open Championship and attain a No. 1 world ranking.
The Class of 1964's impact on the Claremont-Mudd tennis program was significant enough that a newspaper article in the spring of 1962 referred to Goss, Moffett, Swayne and Zerboni as the "Fabulous Four," a full year before a different quartet with a similar nickname had its first No. 1 hit in England.
Dave Moffett:
The chemistry between the four of us was always so good that we didn't really care what number we played on the team. We wanted to win matches, particularly Redlands and other SCIAC matches.
Joe only played for CMC for three years, as he was on the 3-2 program with Stanford. Joe was the best athlete on our team, and has continued to play "age" US Tennis Association matches and tournaments after college. Joe is #1 in San Diego right now in the 75s and that's an accomplishment.
My favorite memories are the lifetime close friendship with my tennis team members, and beating Redlands our freshman year and junior year.
1962 Men's Tennis Roster
Head Coach: Ted Ducey
Jim Alsup
John Freeman
Bob Goss
Larry Mather
Dave Moffett
Ed Nattrus
Bob Smith
Barry Swayne
Joe Zerboni
1963 Men's Tennis Roster
Head Coach: Ted Ducey
Bob Goss
Joe Marshall
Dave Moffett
Howard Sohn
Barry Swayne
Joe Zerboni