The No. 2 UCLA men’s tennis team (8-1) faces Arizona State
today and Arizona Saturday in two important matches for the team.
The Bruins have been impressive thus far, advancing to the finals
of the National Team Indoors before losing to No. 1 Illinois in the
championship. On Tuesday they defeated BYU, 6-1, at the Los Angeles
Tennis Center. The UCLA lineup will likely remain much the same as
it has been all season, with senior Tobias Clemens
at No. 1, junior Chris Lam at No. 2, junior
Alberto Francis at No. 3, junior Kris
Kwinta at No. 4, freshman Philipp
Gruendler at No. 5 and sophomore Chris
Surapol at No. 6. No. 44 Arizona State (3-0) has posted
victories over UC Santa Barbara, Wichita State and Auburn this
season. When the Bruins travel to Tucson, they will be facing a
team that was able to do something this season that they
couldn’t ““Â blank BYU. The Wildcats defeated the
Cougars 7-0 back on Feb. 14. UCLA was solid in last season’s
matches against the Arizona schools, posting 6-1 and 5-2 victories
against the Sun Devils and beating the Wildcats 7-0 and 5-2.
Neither of this weekend’s matches will count toward the
teams’ Pac-10 records. The Pac-10 matches will be played
later in the season at the Los Angeles Tennis Center. UCLA returns
home to face No. 5 Baylor on Feb. 26.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: UCLA signee
Lindsey Pluimer was selected to participate in the
Third Annual McDonald’s All-American Game Thursday. A
6-foot-3 small forward from San Clemente High School, Pluimer will
be a member of the West team. The game, which features 24 of the
top prep women’s basketball players in the nation, will take
place March 31 in Oklahoma City.
MEN’S VOLLEYBALL: Before facing No. 1
Hawai’i next week, the UCLA men’s volleyball team will
play its annual alumni match Friday at Pauley Pavilion. Admission
is free. Former All-Americans Paul Nihipali and
Stein Metzger will lead the alumni, and associate
athletic director Michael Sondheimer will be their
coach. Departed seniors from last year’s team ““
Scott Morrow, Rich Nelson and Jesse
Debban ““ will also play for the alumni.
Compiled by David Regan, Jeff Eisenberg, Diamond Leung,
Bruin Sports senior staff.