Friday, 4/18/97 Bruins prepare to avenge earlier losses to
Stanford UCLA must fight to beat rival, who has home-court edge
By Mark Shapiro Daily Bruin Staff The UCLA men’s tennis team,
still bearing the mantle of the nation’s No. 1 ranking, is moving
north to face probably its toughest test before the NCAA
Championship. The second installment of the Bruins’ yearly battle
with Stanford is set for Saturday afternoon. This time, however,
the Bruins (22-1 8-0) have to battle the seventh-ranked Cardinal
(19-2, 8-1) in their neck of the woods, where the circumstances
are, to say the least, hostile. While Stanford has always packed
the house for matches against UCLA, this time the two teams will
battle in the Cardinal’s new home, which will hold several thousand
raucous fans. "It’s tough to beat Stanford at Stanford," UCLA head
coach Billy Martin said. "They do a great job of filling the
stadium with Stanford supporters. We certainly feel the heat but it
makes it that much more fun. That just toughens us up." Even with
the second round of this rivalry pending and the Stanford faithful
chomping at the bit, the Bruins roll in with a 21-match winning
streak and the coolest of heads. "I don’t think we’re overly
excited," Martin said. "It seems to be such a big thing and I don’t
want it to be; it doesn’t mean a heck of a lot to us. We know now
what it really means to have a good year and that means you have to
win the national championship." The Cardinal come into the match
with most of their lineup intact, but missing a vital cog. Junior
Paul Goldstein, ranked 11th in the nation, is still sidelined by a
stress fracture. Stanford will have the services of Grant Elliot,
who returns from injury to a spot in the singles lineup, but
without Goldstein’s presence at No. 2 singles, the Cardinal won’t
be firing on all cylinders. "We know a win (against Stanford
without Goldstein), is … we can’t pat ourselves on the back too
much," Martin said. "With Elliot, they’ll be stronger but not
nearly as much." The absence of Goldstein will give UCLA’s Alex
Decret another shot at freshman Bob Bryan, who manhandled him 6-3,
6-0 the first time the two teams met this year. Decret, who has
been struggling of late, is looking to right the ship. "We won’t
know until he goes out there," Martin said. "It’s not like he’s not
working hard or playing that badly. I know he’ll have some good
matches." Another featured matchup will be the battle of the No.
1’s as UCLA’s Eric Taino, ranked ninth in the country, will battle
Ryan Wolters, ranked 12th. This will be the rubber match in a
rivalry that has seen the players split their previous matches. * *
* Before the Bruins get to battle the Cardinal, they have to
negotiate an obstacle from across the Bay as they tangle with Cal
on Friday at 1:30 p.m. Although they posed little threat to the
Bruins when the two teams met earlier, the Bears (9-10, 3-5) have a
penchant for knocking off UCLA teams that are looking ahead to a
Stanford showdown. "We did it two years ago; we overlooked Cal and
lost," Martin said. "We can’t overlook Cal. They’re certainly a
team we should beat without any doubt. It’s good for us to have a
match before Stanford." JON FERREY Alex Decret will play at No.
2.