The men’s and women’s tennis teams took part in the
ITA Regional Championships last weekend, and junior Benjamin
Kohlloeffel took home the men’s singles Championship.
Kohlloeffel defeated Arizona’s Roger Matalonga 6-1, 6-2 on
Saturday to win the tournament. Due to weather, the championship
match was moved from Pepperdine, the tournament host, to the Los
Angeles Tennis Center. With the win, Kohlloeffel qualified for the
ITA National Indoor Championships, which take place at Ohio State
from Nov. 3 to 6. Junior Chris Surapol and sophomore Mathieu
Dehaine made the quarterfinals of the tournament. Surapol was
defeated by Kohlloeffel in the quarterfinals, and Arizona
State’s Ryan McBride knocked off Dehaine. UCLA also had three
doubles teams playing in the semifinals on Sunday. In one
semifinal, Pepperdine’s Ivor Lovrak and Pedro Rico defeated
No. 1 seed Kohlloeffel and Philipp Gruendler, 9-7. In the other
semifinal match, junior Aaron Yovan and Dehaine defeated teammates
sophomore Jeremy Drean and Surapol, 9-8 (5) to advance to the
finals. Lovrak and Rico then took the tournament title with an 8-6
decision over Yovan and Dehaine. For the women, junior Laura Gordon
qualified for the quarterfinals but had to forfeit her match after
sustaining an injury while playing doubles. Freshmen Tracy Lin and
Elizabeth Lumpkin teamed up to advance to the quarterfinals in the
doubles draw, but lost to Pepperdine’s Eva Dickes and Bianca
Dulgheru, 8-6.
TOURNAMENT GETS SPONSOR: Countrywide Financial Corporation has
agreed to be the title sponsor of the men’s professional
tennis event at the Los Angeles Tennis Center through 2008. The
tournament’s previous title sponsor was Mercedes-Benz, and
Countrywide had been the presenting sponsor since 2004. The 2006
Countrywide Classic will be July 24-30, marking the 80th
consecutive year the tournament has been held. It is the
longest-running annual professional sporting event in Los Angeles,
and will be part of the U.S. Open Series Tournament next summer.
“The tournament, the Southern California Tennis Association
and UCLA are delighted to be able to enhance our relationship with
Countrywide,” said tournament Director Bob Kramer in a
statement. “Countrywide has been a strong community partner
and will be a perfect fit for the title sponsor role at an event
that has been a Southern California sports and business tradition
for eight decades.”
Compiled by Bruin Sports senior staff.