Wednesday, January 28, 1998
UCLA puts on poker face for tourney
M. TENNIS If team plays cards right and strengthens singles
lineup, they have chance to unseat Stanford
By Stephanie Chan
Daily Bruin Contributor
The cards are still being shuffled as the No. 2 UCLA men’s
tennis team begins their 1998 season.
They have a full house, boasting a handful of nationally ranked
players – No. 4 junior Vince Allegre, No. 6 freshman Jean-Noel
Grinda, No. 54 senior Matt Breen. No. 70 junior Jason Cook and No.
92 senior Alex Decret.
They have the face cards, the rankings, the reputation. The team
ranks No. 2 nationally, are coming off a third-place 1997 NCAA
finish, and also boast a 1996-97 25-4 season record.
What they need are three pairs – three strong doubles teams to
complete the winning hand.
"I feel singles-wise we’re a very strong team, but doubles-wise
… I just don’t think we’re up to par with a lot of the top
teams," said UCLA head coach Billy Martin.
"If we keep working hard at it … which we are … and get
three teams that we can keep consistently playing, I think we can
get better."
After mixing and matching the players, Martin thinks that he may
have found the right combination following the doubles sweep of
UNLV last Saturday. The line-up matched up Breen and Grinda at No.
1, Decret and junior Brandon Kramer at No. 2, and Allegre and Cook
at No. 3.
"I think we can go head-to-head with anybody singles-wise," said
Martin.
The singles positions are nowhere near set. The experimenting
continues.
Grinda, Allegre, Breen, Cook, Decret and Kramer are leading the
run for the six singles positions. Redshirt freshman Chris Sands
will be pushing the lead pack for a spot on the team.
"Without being cut-throaty and all," said Martin, "I think the
guys are competitively jogging for spots on our team.
"That improves our team when they’re trying to go out and show
the coach that they’re playing well."
The Bruins are going to need that singles’ boost this year in
fighting for the NCAA and Pac-10 Championships.As the regional
rankings stand, Stanford holds the No. 1 position, while crosstown
rival USC is on the Bruins’ tail at No. 3.
"With Stanford and ‘SC, which are always tennis powerhouses,
it’s hard to feel too confident," said Martin.
"Stanford looks very good. There’s no doubt about it. They only
lost one guy from last year’s team, their No. 6 player. And I think
they got someone back who’s a better singles player than the guy
they lost."
"’SC didn’t really lose anybody from last year, and they’re good
this year."
As for the rest of the Pac-10 stack-up, California has claimed
the regional No. 6 ranking, with Washington at No. 7, Arizona State
at No. 8, Arizona at No. 9, and Oregon at No. 10.
The Bruins want the Pac-10 championship throne but are looking
to be kings of a bigger castle – the nation.
"We’re certainly going to try to compete for our conference
championship, although the NCAA championship is the one we want,"
said Martin.
Last year the Bruins fell short of the NCAA championship when
Georgia eliminated them in the semifinals. The current rankings
have placed Georgia at No. 3 behind the Bruins.
But Stanford, last year’s national champion, is keeping the
Bruins from dominating the national No. 1 ranking.
"Whereas the last couple years I think we’ve been favored, or
been very equal," says Martin of the UCLA-Stanford match, "This
year I think we have to be coming in the underdog. So the
pressure’s a little bit off us, and we can come out loose."
"But there’s a lot of matches between now and Stanford, and
right now I think we’ve got to take one match at a time.
"We’re fighting to be one of the top eight teams and get a
direct bid into the NCAA Championships."
UCLA Sports Information
Vincent Allegre
UCLA Sports Information
Jason Cook
UCLA Sports Info
Matt Breen