Tuesday, January 14, 1997
M. TENNIS:
Players prepare to minimize losses and to hone their skills for
future matchesBy Mark Shapiro
Daily Bruin Staff
The tally is 22 and counting.
Going into today’s match against San Diego State, the UCLA men’s
tennis team will be faced not only with the challenge posed across
the net but to also keep their total number of games lost to a
minimum.
It’s a statistic that only serves to boost a team’s ego, but it
is also most reflective of the pounding that the Bruins
administered to Cal Poly when the two teams squared off last
week.
In six singles matches, the count was UCLA 72 and Cal Poly 22,
with nary a set to their name. Thus far, the stingiest Bruin has
been junior Matt Breen, who gave up only two games at No. 2
singles.
When SDSU and the Bruins face off at 1:30 at the LATC, the bid
is likely to be similar since the un-ranked Aztecs don’t exactly
have the No. 2 Bruins (1-0) quaking in their boots.
"SDSU is probably as good a team as (Cal Poly), maybe a little
better," UCLA head coach Billy Martin said. "I look at this as sort
of a dress rehearsal for the tougher matches so (the team) knows
what the routine is and what I expect of them."
The match-up will provide the Bruins with another chance to
cement themselves into their new lineup. Also, the litmus test of
the doubles teams will continue as the teams of Eric Taino with
Jason Thompson and Jason Cook with Breen seek to find a healthy,
symbiotic level.
One element that will be of particular interest to the UCLA
brain trust will be playing freshman Kevin Kim. Kim, who posted a
victory in his collegiate debut playing at No. 3 singles,
nonetheless had to fight back a modicum of nerves as he battled on
the front courts.
"I felt a little nervous because it was a team event and you
have to do your part to win," Kim said.
He will also be looking to reestablish his form from the fall,
which, in the eyes of the coaching staff, has been temporarily
misplaced.
"He’s not playing as well as he had been in the fall," Martin
said. "I’m not really worried, it’s nothing really bad
fundamentally."
The proximity of tough matches in the schedule makes the
questions in today’s match all the more important to answer. This
weekend, the Bruins take on 14th-ranked Boise State and
seventh-ranked Texas at the LATC, in what will likely serve as an
early proving ground for the Bruins’ new lineup on the national
scale.