On the road to the NCAA championship, the two conferences that hold over 80 percent of all NCAA men’s tennis titles will take their shot at each other this weekend.
UCLA men’s tennis heads to USC this weekend for the first of four annual installments in the Pac-12/SEC Challenge. No. 2 UCLA opens against No. 11 Florida on Saturday, then plays No. 3 Georgia on Sunday, with USC playing against each SEC team as well.
Assistant coach Grant Chen assessed the Pac-12 and SEC as two of the best conferences in the nation. Teams from both conferences occupy 10 of the top-20 spots in the nation.
“It’s very exciting to be able to play two very good, nationally contending teams and two powerhouses from the SEC, (which) has always been a very tennis-loaded conference,” Chen said. “Chances are very high that we could play them at the National Indoors or even at the NCAAs down the road.”
This weekend provides UCLA with its first test against top-tier talent. None of the Bruins’ opponents thus far – Texas Tech, Wisconsin and UC Irvine – currently rank in the nation’s top 50.
However, though no Bruin has lost a singles match three contests into the season, UCLA has already experienced something of a rise in difficulty. Three of the four singles sets lost by UCLA this year came during undecided matches in Sunday’s 4-0 win over Texas Tech.
Senior Clay Thompson suggested that this weekend should continue to apply pressure on the team, especially its three freshmen in the singles lineup.
“It might be the first time that they find themselves on the losing end of a match, so it’s really going to be a difficult and good experience for us to grow from,” Thompson said.
Thompson also acknowledged the excitement among returning players brought upon by playing more unfamiliar opponents. The senior recalled his Bruins being happy that the team drew Ohio State instead of USC in last year’s NCAA tournament, given that a Buckeyes loss would set up the fifth meeting between the Trojans and Bruins in 2013.
A degree of conference pride accompanies the thrills of a new and heightened competitive atmosphere at USC’s David X. Marks Tennis Stadium.
“I think we want to show (the SEC) how tough the Pac-12 is,” said junior Marcos Giron of a Pac-12 conference that claims 53 men’s tennis national championships. “Show them that the Pac-12 is the real deal.”