Spring break is looking like anything but a holiday for the UCLA men’s tennis team.
After a morale-boosting win over Hawai’i last week helped to regain some momentum, UCLA looks to continue its surge and lay to rest its recent struggles when the team takes on Loyola Marymount on Tuesday at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.
Last week, No. 15 UCLA (10-3) was able to capture the doubles point against Hawaii, a confidence boost that allowed the Bruins to dominate in singles play. UCLA failed to win the doubles points against California and USC in earlier losses this season, putting the Bruins in an early hole from which they could not escape. If the Bruins can win the point against the unranked Lions (9-7) on Tuesday, it should go a long way in helping them move forward from their doubles issues.
Coach Billy Martin has spent much of the season experimenting with doubles partners after the loss of senior Nick Meister. Martin’s latest doubles pairings, which included seniors Holden Seguso and Amit Inbar on court No. 1 and redshirt sophomore Alex Brigham with freshman Adrien Puget at court No. 2, gave UCLA success against Hawaii. The Bruins have performed well in singles play and won on all but one court last week against the Warriors.
Meanwhile, LMU is coming off of a five-match winning streak against other unranked teams. In their last match against Lafayette College, the Lions captured the doubles point with a three-court sweep, and senior Aris Andreasian, their No. 1 singles player, is coming off of back-to-back wins. Sophomore transfer Nicholas Bjerke is another key player for the Lions, and has had a crucial role in many of their wins this season.
In doubles, the No. 1 team of Bjerke and freshman Daniel Simko are 4-1 in conference play and 6-6 overall this season.
After Tuesday’s match, the Bruins will gear up for their next NorCal road trip, where they will face Pac-10 rivals California and Stanford on Friday and Saturday, respectively.