When the NCAA Men’s Tennis Tournament draw is announced
this afternoon, UCLA is expecting to see at least one familiar
Pac-10 opponent in its regional.
But that’s not terribly unusual.
What’s unusual is the fact that the No. 6 Bruins (21-3)
have had their share of difficulty with all three of their
potential opponents, losing once to both Cal and USC, and winning
tight 4-3 matches against Stanford both times.
“We have to expect to play a tough team,” coach
Billy Martin said.
Martin considers it a distinct possibility that one of those
three Pac-10 teams will be in the regional that the Bruins will
almost certainly host.
There are 16 four-team regionals, with the winner of each
regional advancing to the Sweet 16 in College Station, Texas.
The likelihood of the Bruins seeing one of those teams is so
high because the tournament committee attempts to keep teams close
to home, and none of the three has a great chance to host its own
regional.
It’s certainly a far cry from last season, when UCLA,
Stanford and USC all hosted regionals.
As for which team the Bruins could see, Martin will have to wait
until today’s announcement to find out.
The No. 21 Trojans (11-12) split the season series with UCLA,
winning 5-2 at home before losing at the Los Angeles Tennis Center
by the same score.
The No. 22 Cardinal (13-10) lost 4-3 to the Bruins in both
meetings.
In its first meeting against No. 24 Cal (11-9), UCLA played
perhaps its best match of the season, winning 7-0, before playing
perhaps its worst match in the second meeting between the two
teams, losing 4-3.
When considering which team the Bruins would most like to see,
opinions differ.
“It doesn’t matter who we play,” senior Luben
Pampoulov said. “We have one goal and that’s to win the
championship.”
Martin feels that his team would be most excited to play the
Bears, a team he also feels has been playing its best tennis late
in the season.
Cal finished the regular season with victories over UCLA, USC
and Stanford.
“I think we’d be most up to play Cal after they
whipped us up there,” said Martin, who expects his team to be
either the No. 6 or No. 7 overall seed.
Pampoulov said the team would be ready to play anyone, even if
they ended up in the same regional as the No. 1 team, Baylor.
“It doesn’t really matter,” Pampoulov
said.
“Our losses were stupid. If everybody is playing well,
we’ll be fine,” he added.