PALO ALTO “”mdash; An NCAA Championship is what most
student-athletes dream of when they come to UCLA. The coaches, the
players and the supportive staff all want to enjoy collegiate
sports supremacy.
And once that is done, the next best thing is to defend it.
That is exactly what the UCLA men’s tennis team was trying
to do at Stanford.
Although the No. 10 Bruins’ efforts came up short in a 4-1
loss to No. 2 Pepperdine, there was a pair of former players
present who were doing their part to help their team win
back-to-back titles.
Fifth-year seniors Luben Pampoulov and Kris Kwinta have gone
from key players to invaluable consultants and beaming
cheerleaders.
While their eligibility came to an end with the 2005 title, the
two have become unofficial student assistants and avid
supporters.
“It is so much more emotional to be off the court,”
Kwinta said. “When you are playing, you focus on your game,
but from the stands you get nervous about everything that is going
on.”
Kwinta hasn’t merely watched the games this season; he
also aids in the game planning for every Bruin competing on
court.
In constant observation of the opponent, Kwinta and Pampoulov
serve as a third eye with a better understanding of the team than
any other fan.
“We watched the doubles (against Illinois) together and I
got nervous just listening to (Kwinta),” Pampoulov said.
But the support coming from the seniors hasn’t stopped at
tennis tips. Both said that winning the NCAA title last year was a
very special experience, a feeling that might never be equaled.
“Every time I look at my ring I think of my teammates and
those fantastic moments on the way to the title,” Kwinta
said.
By winning a tough three-set match, Kwinta clinched the title
for the 2005 Bruins against Baylor. Pampoulov, meanwhile, was the
team’s No. 1 singles player, the team captain and the one
younger players looked up to.
Kwinta and Pampoulov’s maturity was perhaps the one
component missing on a 2006 UCLA team without any seniors. The two
still filled that void as best they could, serving as mentors to
the new players on the team.
“We do whatever we can to help them, but obviously we
cannot use our tennis skills on court,” Kwinta said.
“Defeat hurts us as UCLA fans now, but we know what it
would be like as players,” he said.
Although they helped bring UCLA coach Billy Martin his first
national title as a coach ““ which was also the first title
for the men’s tennis program since 1984 ““ Kwinta and
Pampoulov refuse to live in the past.
They’d prefer to focus on the promising future of a
program they once led.
“I try not to think about last year,” Pampoulov
said. “It was a very special time for us, but it is about
these guys now.”
Despite the fact that their playing days are over, Kwinta and
Pampoulov embraced a new status in 2006 that seems to suit them
just as well.
“If I can, I will travel to the NCAAs with the team even
after I graduate,” Pampoulov said.