PALO ALTO “”mdash; On Saturday the UCLA men’s tennis team
discovered a satisfying recipe ““ three parts seasoned
experience, one part youthful exuberance, and one very sweet
victory.
After untested sophomores Mathieu Dehaine and Jeremy Drean
clinched the doubles point by winning a tense tiebreaker, the
10th-seeded Bruins (20-5) used straight-set singles victories from
three experienced juniors to register a 4-2 victory over
seventh-seeded Illinois (24-7) and advance to Sunday’s NCAA
Quarterfinals, where they will meet second-seeded Pepperdine.
“I thought we had to play our top tennis to beat that
team, and we really did,” said UCLA coach Billy Martin, who
saw his team advance to the quarterfinals for the 13th consecutive
season. “My two young sophomores really came through.
I’m really proud of them.”
And he certainly has reason to be. After UCLA and Illinois had
split on the top two doubles courts ““ with the Bruins’
Haythem Abid and Chris Surapol winning at No. 2 and Ben Kohlloeffel
and Philipp Gruendler dropping their first dual match of the season
at No. 1 ““ all the attention turned to the two young
sophomores.
Despite never having played in the NCAA Tournament prior to this
season, Dehaine and Drean showed no sign of nerves in their
tiebreaker, seizing control from the outset and cruising to a 7-1
tiebreaker victory.
“It was pretty exciting because we knew the doubles point
was so important against such a good team,” Drean said.
Illinois, which also lost 4-2 to UCLA in the semifinals of the
2004 NCAA Tournament, couldn’t recover from the early
deficit.
“The doubles was pivotal today,” Illinois coach
Brian Dancer said. “This entire season we did not win a match
after losing the doubles point. We have not shown the ability to
rebound from that point, so that was a backbreaker for
us.”
Once singles play began, UCLA maintained control through its
experienced veterans.
Gruendler, inconsistent in singles during the regular season,
once again proved he can be counted on once the postseason begins.
Gruendler’s 6-3, 6-2 victory over Ryan Rowe at the No. 4 spot
gave the Bruins a 2-0 lead.
Illinois struck back with a victory at No. 2, but No. 1-ranked
Kohlloeffel registered a hard-fought 6-4, 7-6 (5) win over No. 11
Ryler DeHeart just minutes later.
After Illinois’ G.D. Jones defeated Dehaine at No. 3,
Surapol got his chance to thrive in the spotlight, and the junior
from Whittier didn’t squander the opportunity.
Though Ruben Gonzales broke serve to even the second set at 4-4
and bring the match even closer, Surapol broke right back and then
served out the match for a 6-4, 6-4 victory.
Despite all the attention and pressure that the NCAA Tournament
brings, especially when there are just a couple matches left on the
court, the Bruin junior said he wasn’t affected by
nerves.
“I’ve just never been,” he said. “If you
have good technique, you don’t have to worry about anything
because it’s not going to break down.”
While the victory was sweet, the time to savor it is quite
limited.
UCLA faces second-seeded Pepperdine, a team that defeated the
Bruins 4-3 earlier this season, on Sunday at 1 p.m. The Bruins will
be looking to advance to their fifth consecutive Final Four.