Lauren RabainoAs a freshman, the transition into college can be tough. But when you’re the men’s No. 1 singles tennis player as a Cal Poly true freshman, there is no time for complaints or regrets. You’re living part of your dream. Enter the life of business student and Cal Poly tennis player Andre Dome.
“The biggest challenge (for me) is seeing how busy it is in college,” Dome said. “This is especially true when playing a sport because you have to structure your day so well. It’s all over the place.”
Early 8 a.m. business law classes usually kick-start his days that don’t end until 9 or 10 p.m. when he passes out from exhaustion.
“I don’t have time for anything else. It’s just school, tennis, studying. That’s like my whole day,” he said.
But just because his schedule seems rough, doesn’t mean he doesn’t enjoy being at Cal Poly. Dome received other tennis offers from many top schools across the nation such as Pepperdine, San Diego State University, UCLA, Notre Dame and USC, where he had the honor of meeting football head coach Pete Carroll.
“I was with five other tennis recruits,” he recalled. “Pete Carroll introduced himself to us and told us about all the perks of going to USC. It was hard to pass up. You see a guy like Pete Carroll, a big guy in sports. I was star struck. That was a pretty cool experience.”
But ultimately, he decided to play for Cal Poly instead.
“It’s a great opportunity to play for the local college I’ve always supported,” Dome said. “College is so much different than junior tennis. Everyone is good. The level of play here is amazing.”
There are 12 players on the Cal Poly men’s tennis team, four of which are freshmen, three sophomores, one junior and four seniors, including Dome’s doubles partner and previous No. 1 singles player, Andy Gerst. With such a small number and supportive environment, Dome knew he felt right at home with the team.
“The team is like a family, which is one of the reasons I came here,” Dome said. “I was looking at a lot of other schools, but the team aspect wasn’t really there. If the team’s a family, when you win it means more and when you lose everybody’s there to support you.”
Dome’s most memorable match for Cal Poly thus far was his first. In a season-opening dual against Concordia University, Dome rallied for a 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Concordia sophomore Andrey Potapkin. Dome played No. 2 doubles with Gerst and came out with a 8-2 win. The Mustangs would win the dual 6-1.
“I had the first-match jitters, I was pretty nervous. A lot of people from my dorm came and supported. We had a pretty good crowd. Andy and I won our doubles. They were pretty good wins for me. (It was nice) to get that off my back and just to get a good win,” Dome said.
Cal Poly played No. 14 Pepperdine on Jan. 24 which had a 7-0 victory over the Mustangs. But even with the rough loss, Dome and Gerst still rose up and had an 8-3 win at No. 2 doubles.
As a local kid, the Arroyo Grande native has called the Central Coast home since he was five when his family first moved here from Indonesia. While most college students anxiously jettisoned out the door and drove miles away from their parents with the first mention of the word “college,” Dome saw the value of staying put.
“I’m pretty close with my family,” Dome said. “My mom just loves to watch me. She always comes out to support me and every time I’m playing I look for her and she’s always there.”
Dome’s mother grew up in Indonesia and his father was an immigrant from war-torn Hungary who didn’t know any English when he came to America.
“Everything I’ve done I’ve worked hard for because that’s how my parents are and how they grew up,” Dome said. “They gave me the opportunity to come here because they knew in America you had all the opportunities you could get. It didn’t matter if you were poor or rich or black or white, everybody had an opportunity. That’s how they saw it.”
Dome reached the finals of three national junior tournaments where he finished second out of the best 198 players in the nation. Last year, he reached the finals of the USTA Winter Nationals. He was rated as one of the Top 10 tennis recruits in 2008 recruiting class according to tennisrecruiting.net.
Hugh Bream, Cal Poly women’s tennis head coach has known Dome since he was 10 and knows how close his family is.
“His parents put a lot of time and energy into helping Andre being able to have that opportunity to develop his tennis to the highest level,” Bream recalled. “His dad talked to me about what it would take for Andre to earn a college scholarship. They were really focused on ‘How can our son get a great education? Could tennis be a vehicle for it?’ We talked about the process that would have to happen in terms of practices, getting to the tournaments consistently.”
Dome knew tennis was going to be an instrumental part of his future when he picked up his first racquet at the age of five.
“The first time I picked up a racquet it just stuck. I got a racquet from my parents on my birthday. I went out for the first day and played for three hours. I just loved it right when I started,” he recalled.
Dome was a four-year letter winner in tennis at Arroyo Grande High School, where his team finished in second place in the Pac-7 three out of the four years he was there. He received the 2007 and 2008 High School All American and was a four-time all-Pac-7 First Team member and MVP, only losing only one Pac-7 league match.
The strong passion for tennis runs in the Dome family. His father used to play tennis when he was younger and he’s served as his personal coach since his son’s first time with a racquet.
“He’s one of the only people who really know my game that I could ask about, if I had any problems,” Dome said of his influential father.
Bream was fortunate enough to play a pivotal part in Dome’s tennis career as a personal coach.
“The most memorable thing for me about Andre is just the process of watching him grow up,” Bream said. “It’s neat to watch a student from a very young age as a kid go through the high school years then be here at college. It’s going to be really exciting to see him mature while here at Cal Poly and fun for my wife and I to still see him play.”
Bream isn’t the only one who has high hopes for Dome and his tennis career as a Mustang. Cal Poly men’s tennis head coach Justin McGrath feels optimistic about Dome and the team.
“Every year I think we’ve gotten a little bit better and I think this year we have the makings of a really good team,” McGrath said. “Obviously Andre’s a great player. He’s talented. For me, having a great player on the team is wonderful, but Andre is a really good person. He’s had a good upbringing. We feel blessed to have him on the team.”
McGrath’s goals for Dome and the team this year are to make Cal Poly tennis history by winning the Big West Championships and making it into the national rankings. With the addition of Dome and great senior leadership, McGrath said the goals are attainable.
“As a freshman, Andre’s playing No. 1 for us this year, which is a learning process,” he said. “I’ve asked a lot of him to step in and play that position. I’m expecting him to mature quickly through the course of the season. He’s our best player by far. He’s a great competitor. I think with every match he plays, he’s going to get better and better.”
But Dome tries not to let all the pressure and attention get to him too much. Music, especially hip-hop and songs from Lupe Fiasco, help keep him grounded.
“I love to listen to music before my matches just to pump myself up to get focused. Music is one of the things that motivate me,” Dome said. “That’s the one thing I always have before matches. I always have headphones in my ears. It keeps me calm and pumped at the same time.”
Dome also takes a lesson from his idols in the professional tennis world, Andre Agassi and Roger Federer, when it comes to handling things like attention.
“They don’t get cocky and they let the racquet do all the talking,” he said. “That’s how I always wanted to be. I don’t really like to brag about all my successes, I just like to sit back and not even talk about it. I don’t really like that attention toward me that much.”
The team’s first two conference games will be on the Cal Poly courts on Feb. 28 against UC Riverside and March 1 against UC Irvine.
“That’s what I call rivalry weekend. I’m hoping we’re having a huge crowd for that match,” McGrath said.
While Dome prepares for his first Big West matches, he sometimes reflects on his decision to stay close to home.
“I always have those days when I go, ‘What if I went there,’ but I’m here now and I’m happy about it,” he said. “I don’t want to leave. I want to stay put. You can’t look at life with ‘ifs.’ (I tell myself) you made your decisions. You can’t regret anything.”