Billy Martin is still waiting to be woken up from what he says feels like a dream.
Jeremy Drean never expected his team to be in this situation.
And Mathieu Dehaine has been waiting all season for this moment.
The UCLA men’s tennis coach and his two senior leaders never imagined they would be in this position, but after months of grinding wins, the Bruins have found themselves among the best in the nation.
A No. 5 national ranking, a 20-1 record, and a perfect conference record would suggest that the Bruins have cruised this season, especially since the only loss was to No. 1 Virginia.
On the contrary, the season has been everything but easy.
“I don’t think that even we thought we could be where we are now,” Drean said.
UCLA came into the season missing three of last year’s top players.
As if that wasn’t enough, the Bruins found out that they would have to play without junior Haythem Abid for much of the beginning of the season. Abid had to undergo surgery in his dominant wrist and has yet to return.
Despite all that, UCLA is now in a position to capture its fifth straight Pac-10 regular-season title.
“I never in my wildest dreams would’ve imagined this,” Martin said. “I think I’ve said that all the way through the season. I’m still expecting someone to pinch me or shake me and say it’s been a dream because this has been as incredible of a season as I’ve ever had as an assistant coach or head coach.”
The season isn’t over yet, however. The Bruins are set to face off against USC today at Marks Tennis Stadium.
The situation mirrors the one last season, when UCLA and USC were both undefeated going into the final meeting of the season, which UCLA won.
Dehaine recalled that victory and couldn’t help but point out what exactly this match meant to him in his final year.
“We’re playing for the Pac-10 championship, both teams are undefeated, they’re ranked four, we’re five,” Dehaine said. “What more can I say? It’s going to be unbelievable.”
Not all the current members of the team have had to deal with the overwhelming crowd at Marks Tennis Stadium, however. Harel Srugo, who transferred to UCLA this year from Old Dominion, has heard the stories of how difficult it can be to play in front of such a feisty crowd, but he is confident he and his teammates will not be fazed.
“It’s not going to be easy,” he said. “As long as you have six guys fighting out there, you have a good shot.”
When the crosstown rivals faced off in the first week of March, UCLA got its first taste of the revamped Trojan lineup, and the Bruins were able to squeak away with a 5-2 victory that was clinched by freshman Nick Meister.
Today, though, not only will the Bruins be forced to play against a Trojan squad that is better than it has been in the past several years, according to Martin, but they will also face their rivals’ fans.
“We’ve got a hell of a challenge ahead of us, but this team hasn’t been afraid of challenges, and they’ve certainly gone out and given themselves a chance in every match we’ve played this year so far,” Martin said.