The weather this time around was nice enough for the men’s tennis teams of UCLA and San Diego State to actually compete.
In a match that was played on Tuesday because of postponement from a rained-out Jan. 30 contest, the Bruins wasted no time in taking care of their opponents before shifting their attention to an important road trip this weekend.
“I think all the wins right now are really important to stay in a good, positive state of mind,” UCLA coach Billy Martin said.
The No. 10 Bruins (16-3, 4-0 Pac-10) captured their third consecutive shutout victory Tuesday, beating the Aztecs 7-0. The Bruins have dropped just two points in seven matches since suffering their worst loss of the season at the hands of USC.
With their eyes set on capturing a Pac-10 conference title, the Bruins realize each match is critical.
“(Tuesday) was the kind of match where you’ve got to get ready and be very focused from the start to the finish,” junior Jeremy Drean said. “Now we’ve got to move on and be ready for our big Pac-10 matches.”
The Bruins will travel north to take on Cal and Stanford on the road in their final road matches of the regular season.
UCLA got the best of both teams in prior nonconference matches, but Martin believes things may be different this time around, as the teams won’t be willing to go down without a fight, especially on their home courts.
During singles play on Tuesday the top three courts featured the Bruins’ senior trio of Benjamin Kohlloeffel, Philipp Gruendler and Chris Surapol.
Gruendler played his first singles match since March 31 and played at the highest position in his Bruin career against San Diego State at No. 2. He played in place of sophomore Haythem Abid and clinched UCLA’s win by posting a 6-2, 6-2 victory.
“Abid could’ve played, but I just chose not to play him,” Martin said. “Philipp hasn’t played a singles match in awhile so I thought this would be a good time to get him back in there.”
Taking Abid’s place in the doubles lineup at the No. 2 position was sophomore Michael Look, who usually sits out during the doubles point before taking the court for singles.
Look teamed with Surapol to capture the Bruins’ first doubles victory as the point was clinched on court No. 1 by Kohlloeffel and Gruendler, who are now 21-0 on the season as a team.
“(San Diego State) just got back from playing their conference tournament in Colorado, so they’re tired and not as competitive as we would’ve liked it to be,” Kohlloeffel said. “But it’s always good to play, so it’s definitely not necessarily bad.”
Regardless of whether the Bruins were as challenged by their opponents as they expected, Martin is happy to get the win before heading into the final stretch of the regular dual-match season.
“Anytime you win 7-0 and don’t drop a set, you’re playing well,” Martin said.
“You especially don’t want to drop off no matter how bad your opponent is playing, so I’m pleased that we played how we know we can play.”