ELLIS TO DEFEND SINGLES CROWN; CAL LUTHERAN SENIOR STANDS TALL ENTERING NCAAS.

Byline: Rizza Yap Daily News Staff Writer

His first tennis racket was a $20 model purchased a day after playing with a friend who didn't know much about the game either.

Eight years have passed, and Mark Ellis has grown up, on and off the court.

Today, his left hand swings a Prince graphite, and his game has graduated from playing on tennis courts at a friend's condo to those at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, W. Va., where he will defend his Division III NCAA singles title and aim for a doubles championship next week.

The tournament will be Ellis' third consecutive trip to the nationals. Before winning the championship last year, the Cal Lutheran senior earned All-American honors by making it to the quarterfinals in 1995.

At this year's Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament, Ellis won the Division III singles title by defeating his Cal Lutheran doubles partner Jenia Karimov, and together, they claimed the Ojai doubles title. In 1996, Ellis also earned the independent college singles title in Ojai, and he received a silver medal for doubles the year before.

``Mark has competitive greatness - the ability to come up with a fantastic shot in a pressure situation,'' said Mike Gennette, a fourth-year coach at Cal Lutheran. ``He's got a real good court sense.

``He's an incredible athlete as well, which can be unusual at 6-foot-6. He moves more like somebody who's 5-foot-6 (because) he's incredibly fast and agile.''

Determination also has paid off for the 23-year-old reared in Camarillo.

Growing up as a team sports player - tackling soccer, baseball, basketball and volleyball as a child - Ellis did not attempt to play tennis until the summer before he entered high school. At the time, a friend lived in a condo that had tennis courts, and the two boys gave the sport a try to relieve their boredom.

``I had fun, and I was competitive, so I wanted to do better,'' Ellis said. ``During my freshman year I missed tryouts (by showing up a day late), so I asked to be on the team.

``I was the worst by far.''

So Ellis began practicing.

By the end of his first season on Camarillo High's boys' tennis team, Ellis headed the junior varsity lineup. As a sophomore he lettered as a No. 1 doubles player. He played No. 1 singles his last two years at Camarillo and was the Marmonte League Most Valuable Player both seasons.

High school was followed by some time off in the fall, then two years on scholarship at New Mexico State, where he redshirted his first year and played the next. There, Ellis discovered that competing for a Division I school was a constant dogfight.

``It was a struggle because I was fighting for the fifth or sixth spot, and there were five or six guys that could bump you out at any time,'' Ellis said. ``I liked the competitive nature, but it was up and down quite a bit. It was really hard.''

Coupled with some personal difficulties, Ellis decided to go home after his second year. After taking off a semester, he transferred to Cal Lutheran, attracted to Gennette's visions of him winning a national championship and eventually turning pro.

So far, Gennette's predictions are on track. This summer, Ellis will begin training full-time in order to play professionally in the fall.

``There's a level of professionalism he hasn't reached yet, which is making tennis your job - (where) your studying and work is done on the court,'' Gennette said.

Concentrating solely on tennis means Ellis will have to make some major adjustments in his extremely busy life. For the past year and a half, he has been living on a five-acre ranch in Casitas Springs taking care of 15 horses, maintaining the grounds and doing odd jobs like building chicken coops to pay his rent.

This new lifestyle has been quite a switch from a self-proclaimed city boy who's now up at 6:30 a.m. instead of his usual time of 11. About two hours later, he heads for class. By noon, he's at tennis practice. At 5 p.m., he begins work as a waiter in a Ventura restaurant. His studying is done in the wee hours of the morning.

``Every once in a while, I start feeling (worn out), and I just need to slow down a little, recoup and realize that what I'm doing is all for a good reason - and that motivates me to keep going,'' Ellis said. ``Life doesn't get easier the older you get. You can't expect to get anywhere if you give up.

``(That's why) I feel confident about going pro. By making this decision, it makes me go out there and work 10 times more than before. I worked hard in the past and made some accomplishments. There's no reason that if I work as hard or harder, I can't do the same thing.''

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Photo

Photo: Cal Lutheran's 6-foot-6 star Mark Ellis, a Camarillo High graduate, will be making his third straight trip to the Division III NCAA nationals.

Phil McCarten / Daily News