UCLA men’s tennis earned a spot in the Final Four of the NCAA tournament by winning four straight singles points over Ohio State on Sunday night for a 4-2 win.
The Bruins found themselves in an early 0-2 hole, dropping the doubles point through a tiebreaker and seeing the No. 1 singles player in the nation, senior Clay Thompson, fall in two tightly contested sets that ended with a tiebreaker. UCLA would not lose a point thereafter.
Senior Adrien Puget and redshirt sophomore Karue Sell each won in straight sets to knot the match up at 2-2 and redeem their doubles-point deciding tiebreaker loss. Puget required a tiebreaker to get the Bruins on the board for the first time.
UCLA’s two freshmen in the singles lineup each prevailed in three sets to seal up a 4-2 Bruin win. Mackenzie McDonald broke the 2-2 tie by winning 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, while Gage Brymer overcame a first-set defeat to score a 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory. Brymer owned a 4-2 lead at one point and went on to serve for the match.
The match’s lone indecision came on court 2, where junior Marcos Giron finished with a 4-2 lead in what would have been a decisive third set.
UCLA will play Oklahoma tomorrow at 6 p.m. EST for a spot in the national championship game against USC or Virginia.
Compiled by Emilio Ronquillo, Bruin Sports senior staff