COLLEGE STATION, Texas “”mdash; Kris Kwinta had dreamt of winning
the decisive match in the NCAA Finals.
But in his dream, it wasn’t quite like this.
“I was picturing myself playing the deciding match, I
swear,” Kwinta said. “But I was picturing myself
winning 7-5 in the third, not 6-4.
“So it went a little bit better.”
In fact, it really couldn’t have gone any better for the
Bruin senior, who defeated Baylor freshman Lars Poerschke, 4-6,
6-4, 6-4, to give UCLA a 4-3 victory and the NCAA Championship.
Before Tuesday, Kwinta had all five of his singles matches
suspended in every Bruin NCAA Tournament victory leading up to the
finals.
“My dream was to clinch it and give something to my
team,” Kwinta said.
What happened under the lights in College Station on Tuesday
night, then, was simply a dream come true.
For a player without a result in the tournament, whose mental
toughness has been openly questioned by his teammates and coaches,
and who seemed to ride an emotional rollercoaster every single
match, Tuesday’s result was nothing short of spectacular.
After teammate Philipp Gruendler won his match on Court 6 to
even the score at 3-3, all the attention turned to Kwinta and
Poerschke at the No. 3 position. Kwinta had just broken serve to go
up 2-1, meaning that all he had to do was hold serve to win his
match and clinch the championship.
That turned out to be easier said than done.
“Obviously I was nervous, and when you’re nervous,
you have to be aggressive,” Kwinta said. “I was trying
to put the pressure on him because he is a freshman. It worked out
perfectly.”
For UCLA coach Billy Martin, Kwinta’s edge in experience
was critical.
“Once it gets down to those last few matches and
it’s really, really tight, I think it’s really
important to have your seniors and your upperclassmen who have been
through it before,” Martin said. “I knew I could count
on those guys.”
Though Poerschke had a very impressive record for Baylor this
season, Kwinta simply appeared to be the stronger player in the
end.
Kwinta held serve to go up 3-1, missed a break opportunity that
allowed Poerschke to hold at 3-2, fought off a break point to go up
4-2, and ended up serving the match out at 6-4.
But it wasn’t easy. Kwinta actually had a championship
point with Poerschke serving 30-40, trailing 5-3, and for a second
it looked like UCLA would win the match right there. Kwinta called
a Poerschke shot out and most of the Bruins ran on the court to
celebrate.
The umpire, however, overruled Kwinta’s call. It was the
third overrule of the game, so Kwinta was also assessed a point
penalty. Poerschke was able to serve out the game and take back
some momentum.
But in the end, it was simply the Bruins’ day.
After a Poerschke shot sailed long and his teammates mobbed him
on the court, Kwinta knew he wasn’t dreaming. And he knew
that he was the hero.
“At 3-1, I pictured myself walking down Bruin Walk and
people pointing at me saying, “˜He lost, he lost. He lost the
deciding match,'” Kwinta said. “That’s not
going to happen here.”
That wasn’t part of the dream.