It’s a three-pronged mantra that UCLA men’s tennis
coach Billy Martin will repeat over and over again this week.
Don’t overlook anyone. Take every day seriously. Prepare like
this is the NCAA Championship. Yes, Martin, who last season guided
UCLA to its first national championship since 1984, is in the zone,
with the NCAA Men’s Tennis Tournament set to begin Saturday
when the tenth-seeded Bruins (17-5) host SUNY Stony Brook.
“We can’t overlook any match,” Martin said.
“It’s just way too important. We’d shoot
ourselves if we lost that match because we were thinking of who we
play at Stanford.” Based on past history, it would be hard to
blame UCLA for looking ahead to the final rounds of the 64-team
tournament, which will be held in Palo Alto. In his previous 12
seasons, Martin has never had a team lose before the quarterfinals.
And with Stony Brook, Arizona and Colorado in the team’s
regional, no one wants this to be the year. “All we can do is
practice and try to do the best we can,” junior Ben
Kohlloeffel said. “There’s no formula you can follow.
If you practice well and are well prepared, that’s all you
can do.” In tennis, it does no good to look at tape or
extensively scout opponents. So for Martin and the Bruins, the
purpose of this week is to make sure everyone is feeling confident
and ready to play. The team won’t do any conditioning or
weight lifting on Thursday or Friday, and they will begin their
title defense Saturday afternoon. “We’ve been
practicing all season really hard, being really serious,”
freshman Haythem Abid said. “We just have to keep doing it
even more.”
PAC-10 HONORS: Kohlloeffel is ranked No. 1 in
the nation and is the No. 1 seed for the NCAA Individual Tournament
later this month. It would seem only natural for him to be named
Pac-10 Player of the Year. But on Monday he found out this was not
the case and was not at all surprised. Though the Bruin junior has
had a phenomenal season, Cal’s Conor Niland was named Pac-10
Player of the Year. Niland defeated Kohlloeffel in both meetings
between Cal and UCLA this season. “He had a better singles
record in the Pac-10, so he definitely deserved it,” said
Kohlloeffel, who was named to the conference’s first team.
Martin concurred, saying the Pac-10 coaches only consider Pac-10
matches when voting on conference awards. Kohlloeffel and Philipp
Gruendler, the nation’s second-ranked doubles team, were
named the Pac-10 Doubles Team of the Year. Abid made Second Team
All-Conference, and junior Chris Surapol was an honorable-mention
selection.
THE DEATH OF A PROGRAM: Colorado (19-8), who
faces Arizona on Saturday at the Los Angeles Tennis Center, will
undoubtedly be playing every match like it is its last. And
that’s not just because it’s the NCAA Tournament. On
March 23, the Colorado tennis program received word from the
athletic department that men’s tennis would be cut unless $1
million could be raised to cover future operating costs.
“It’s a shame because they’ve got a great program
and to break it up would be a tragedy,” Martin said.
“Unfortunately this could be their last match, and I would be
sad for their program.” But not so sad that Martin wants the
Buffaloes to advance to the Sweet 16. “Unfortunately, I hope
that their last match would be against UCLA.”