Senior Paul Komorniczak (pronounced “come-or-ni-chak” in case you understandably just twisted your brain in a knot) is making his mark on the Sacramento State men’s tennis team.

Although he was born in Wroclaw, Poland, Komorniczak has lived in Northern California ever since moving to Orangevale at age 4. Growing up, there was no hint he would one day become a Division I tennis player.

“Soccer was my sport for a long time,” Komorniczak said. He played center midfielder and forward back in his soccer days. He also played on the competitive San Juan Soccer Club team from age 12 to 16.

Tennis never even entered his consciousness as something that he would enjoy doing, let alone excel in, until his mother decided to take a tennis class. “She bought a bunch of equipment when she started the class and we just started going out and playing every day,” he said. “Tennis really appealed to my competitive nature.”

Komorniczak’s competitive tennis career began as a freshman at Casa Roble High School in Orangevale in 1998. He always enjoyed the game, but it took until his junior year for him to start taking it very seriously. After graduating in 2001, Komorniczak enrolled at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, to study civil engineering. In 2004 he came back north to attend American River College after deciding that engineering wasn’t for him.

His tenure at ARC was full of learning experiences when it came to tennis. He was the No. 1 player in both singles and doubles and he admits that it was in this time that he really improved and fine-tuned his game.

While the ARC team stayed competitive, Komorniczak admits that there is really no comparison between community college opponents and Division. I. “The competition is definitely tougher here,” Komorniczak said. “In terms of skill, competition and talent it is much better.”

It was also during his time at ARC that Komorniczak discovered his love of doubles tennis. “Doubles requires a lot of chemistry. You both have to be on the same page or you will not win,” Komorniczak said. He also loves the thinking aspect of the doubles game. “It’s more of a chess match, which I enjoy.”

It doesn’t surprise one of his current coaches to hear this. Assistant coach Jonathan Labella describes what makes Komorniczak such a good doubles player. “His overall mind for the game is very good,” Labella said. “He reads the game very well.”

Komorniczak has emerged as an excellent doubles player so far this year at Sac State. He and doubles teammate Hague Van Dillen have compiled an impressive record of 6-2 on the season and have secured the No. 3 doubles slot.

“We both play tough and strong together,” Van Dillen said. “We look at the other teams and discuss ways in which we can beat them.”

Komorniczak’s uses have gone beyond the tennis court in his time at Sac State. Head coach Slava Konikov hails from Russia and still speaks fairly limited English. Both he and Komorniczak are fluent in Polish so they communicate in Polish if Konikov ever needs something translated or simply wants to have a conversation.

When it comes to his name, Komorniczak just laughs. “Jonathan (Labella) can’t pronounce my name at all,” he said. “He has just started calling me ‘Kominichka’ because he can’t say it otherwise. It has become kind of a running joke.”

Van Dillen doesn’t even try to pronounce it. “His name is so hard to pronounce that (the players) haven’t even come up with a nickname for him,” Van Dillen said. “We just stick to Paul.”

Benn Hodapp can be reached at [email protected]