Tennis anyone? NCAAs next for Bruin netters
M. tennis looks for 16th title, quest begins with Fresno State
in Athens
By Sarah Harrison
National champions. A title that many Bruins have grown
accustomed to this year, and a title that the UCLA men’s tennis
team would like to claim as its own.
The NCAA Team Championships begin on Saturday in Athens,
Georgia, where fourth-seeded UCLA hopes to add itself to the list
of recent Bruin champions.
"I noticed that the men’s volleyball team won the national
championship, which is great," UCLA netter Justin Gimelstob said.
"Now, however, this means that they are tied with us, at 15, for
the most national championships of a sporting team at UCLA. In
Georgia, we need to reassert our dominance, keep up with the men’s
volleyball and basketball teams and win our 16th national
championship."
UCLA will be making its 19th appearance in the NCAA Team
Tournament, making it and USC the only two schools invited to every
team championship since the team format was instituted in 1977.
The Bruins received an automatic bid to the tournament and did
not have to play in the regionals last weekend to qualify, so they
have had two weeks to prepare.
"I think we have prepared throughout the whole year for the
Championships," UCLA head coach Billy Martin said. "We know what we
have to do. We have to keep our composure and think of the NCAAs as
just another match.
"Everyone knows what is going to happen there because the
National Indoor Tournament (at the end of February, in Louisville,
Ky.) prepared us. We have seen a lot of the teams, so we know what
to expect."
The first team that UCLA will face is No. 26 Fresno State. When
the two teams last met, April 11 in the Los Angeles Tennis Center,
UCLA won 4-3.
While Robert Janecek and Eric Lin were able to beat Bulldog
twins Ryan and Bryan Juinio, the other two UCLA tandems dropped
their matches, to give Fresno the doubles point. In the singles,
Janecek, Gimelstob and Taino easily beat their opponents in
straight sets, and Matt Breen clinched the win by beating Bryan
Juinio 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
After looking back at this match, Martin is confident that the
Bruins can pull off another victory to get past the first
round.
"The teams are all good in the tournament, but I think that this
is a very workable draw," Martin said. "It will not be easy, but I
think, that if we play well, we should be able to definitely make
it to the semifinals."
If they win on Saturday, they will have to play the winner of
Texas and South Alabama. The winner of the match on Sunday will go
to the semifinals, where they will most likely play No. 1 seed
Stanford.
Stanford went undefeated this season, and head coach Richard
Gould seems confident that his team will be able to go all the way.
Stanford has won 10 team championships since 1977, and is looking
for one more this year.
Stanford has been ranked No. 1 nationally all year and is seeded
No. 1 in the tournament, but Gould doesn’t feel that this adds any
unnecessary pressure for his team.
"We have played all year ranked No. 1, and I don’t think that my
guys look like the kind of team that is playing with a burden,"
Gould said. "I think that it is a real plus for them. For a lot of
teams it would be a burden, but I haven’t seen these guys play
defensively or back off, so hopefully, they won’t start now."
The Bruins left for Georgia on Wednesday, allowing time for the
team to adjust to the time change and focus. Martin knows he has to
somehow keep the team relaxed and confident.
"You don’t want to stay cooped up in the hotel room," Martin
said. "You want to stay relaxed and go out and do some things. The
main thing is to make sure that the guys know that their
preparation has gotten them ready, so that they are not just
sitting there wondering. You want to keep busy, but not do anything
strenuous.
"No matter what happens, we have to stay positive, play one
point at a time, and not look back at what happened the point
before."