Both the UCLA men’s and women’s tennis teams face
USC to end their regular season this weekend, and it’s a very
important match for both teams.
Both matches will have postseason implications, so it’s
critical for both to win ““ and they will.
In each of the men’s three losses this season, the team
hasn’t completely come out to play. They took their own
talent for granted in last month’s loss to USC and the
Trojans made them pay.
“It wasn’t a match where we felt that they stepped
out and beat us,” UCLA men’s tennis coach Billy Martin
said of the 5-2 loss. “We left them off the hook.”
UCLA needs to demonstrate that it takes every match seriously,
even when it’s an opponent that comes in riding a three-game
losing streak like the Trojans.
Taking other teams lightly leads to the kind of upsets in the
NCAA Tournament that are more common in basketball, so the Bruins
shouldn’t make it a habit.
While the Bruins have taken it easy in matches in the past,
today won’t be one of them. Martin puts a lot of importance
on beating USC. The only goals he puts higher than beating USC are
winning the Pac-10 title and the NCAA Championship.
“It’s bad enough losing to them once, let alone
twice,” Martin said. “It deepens the wound. I’ve
never lost to them twice and I hope it doesn’t happen this
time.”
Having already been embarrassed once by the Trojans, the Bruins
will come out fully focused because they need to prove the first
meeting was an aberration. A win against USC would also likely help
UCLA in other ways by guaranteeing at least a share of the Pac-10
title.
Furthermore, a loss could drop the Bruins to an eight or nine
seed in the NCAA Tournament, meaning they’d have to face
powerhouse Baylor in the quarterfinals.
UCLA needs only look at their lopsided loss to the Bears in last
year’s finals and Baylor’s undefeated record this year
to realize this is something it should want to avoid.
UCLA is more talented than USC, and with all the required
motivation in place, it’s almost unfathomable to see a second
straight loss.
The match on the women’s side is equally as important, and
for similar reasons.
A loss by the 10th-ranked women’s team will likely mean
that they’ll be seeded somewhere in that vicinity. And that
will mean a horrendous draw for the NCAA Tournament. Yes, the
Bruins overcame a rough draw last year to reach the finals, but
it’d be tough to expect that two years in a row.
The Bruins have proven they can take care of business against
some decent teams, but have yet to take out a top-five team.
USC, ranked fourth in the country with just two losses on its
record, would be that big win the Bruins need going into the NCAA
Tournament.
It would be a confidence builder and resume booster that proves
the Bruins can contend for the title (and possibly even win it if
Stanford has an off-day).
UCLA seems to be peaking and is primed to take down USC today.
The Bruins’ only loss in their last nine matches came to
Stanford, and their most recent win, a convincing 6-1 thrashing of
Pepperdine yesterday, demonstrates they’re on top of their
game.
You never want to back your way into the NCAA Tournament,
especially with the long layoff between the end of the regular
season and the first round of the NCAA Tournament. That layoff
would seem even longer if you’re thinking about a loss to
your crosstown rival.
E-mail Quiñonez at gquinonez@media.ucla.edu if you want
to challenge him to a tennis match.