Maybe it was too hot. Maybe they were thinking about
Georgia.
Maybe they just wanted to watch the end of the Lakers game.
Whatever it was, the UCLA men’s tennis team was all
business Sunday afternoon against USC, disposing of the Trojans
4-0, in just under two hours.
With the win, the No. 5 Bruins (22-3) advance to the Sweet 16 of
the NCAA Tournament in Athens, Ga. There, they will face No.
25 Oklahoma State, an upset winner over No. 11 Minnesota.
Sunday’s match was the third meeting of the season between
the bitter rivals, and not surprisingly, the third installment was
much like the first two. UCLA won 6-1 and 7-0 earlier this
year.
The Bruins struggled to win the ever-important doubles point
Sunday, getting tough victories from Erfan Djahangiri and Alberto
Francis at No. 3, and from Marcin Matkowski and Rodrigo Grilli at
No. 1.Â
Djahangiri and Francis beat Ruben Torres and Johan Berg, 8-4,
while Matkowski and Grilli beat Prakash Amritraj and Jeff Kazarian,
8-6.
“I really liked our energy,” head coach Billy Martin
said. “We didn’t come out tentative.”
Martin’s singles players were anything but tentative,
producing commanding early leads and never looking back.
Clemens, ranked No. 5 in the nation, was the first Bruin to
finish. He absolutely annihilated Amritraj, a player who had beaten
him earlier in the year, 6-1, 6-1, on court No. 1.
“I felt like I was zoning,” Clemens said. “The
ball looked really big, and I was making a lot of really good
shots.”
“Toby’s been playing so well,” Martin said.
“He’s got a good streak going. He’s just really
fresh and ready to go.”
Senior co-captain Erfan Djahangiri, ranked No. 88 nationally,
made the most of his final home match as a Bruin. He defeated
USC’s Parker Collins, 6-1, 6-1 on court No. 5.
“I came out the way I wanted to come out,”
Djahangiri said. “I played great yesterday, great today, good
doubles, good singles. That’s the way to finish my career
here at UCLA. Four more to go, now.”
Rounding out the Bruin scoring was Chris Lam on court No. 4. Lam
defeated Torres, 6-1, 6-3.
“I think I played really well,” Lam said. “I
came out strong and kept it going all the way through the match.
For me to come out and dominate like that, it felt good.”
UCLA defeated Wichita State 4-0 on Saturday to reach
Sunday’s second round match.
Sunday’s win felt good for a Bruin team that made it
absolutely certain USC won’t repeat as NCAA champions.
“To finally de-crown them, as they’re officially the
ex-champions now, feels great,” Clemens said.
“As a Bruin, to beat the Trojans is always special,”
Martin said.
Also special was the way the teams came together in the UCLA
team room after the match to root the Lakers to victory.
“Hey, they’re our team,” Martin said.
“As L.A. schools, we have something in common.”
One thing the schools don’t have in common is future
plans.
UCLA will be traveling to Georgia next week, while the Trojans
will be staying home.