Thursday, March 5, 1998
Bruins shoot aces with rackets, not cards
M. TENNIS: Close calls give way to solid victory against
crosstown rival
By Stephanie Chan
Daily Bruin Contributor
Another sequel to "Scream" debuted at the Los Angeles Tennis
Center yesterday. Call it "Grunt," starring the No. 2 UCLA men’s
tennis team.
The "never-dying bad guy" in this flick was crosstown rival USC.
UCLA ultimately disposed of the Trojans 5-2, but only after playing
to three sets in four of the six singles matches.
These were not grunts of fear, though. They were grunts of
intensity and determination.
Freshman Noah Newman was the first to come off the battlefield
after slaying Trojan Akram Zaman, 6-2, 6-2.
"I felt the intensity of the rivalry," said Newman of his first
match against USC.
For senior Matt Breen this could have been his last match
against USC. Breen had the presence of a veteran coming back from a
2-6 first-set loss to USC’s Kyle Spencer to win the last two sets
6-3, 6-4.
"We’ve got two starters out … For us to win today convincingly
like that (makes) me really proud of our guys," Breen said. "They
all came through and gave it their best."
"Convincingly’s" middle name is Vince. Junior Vince Allegre
convinced USC that the match was over, putting point No. 4 up for
the Bruins.
USC’s Patrick Gottesleben kept looking for the comeback, but
Allegre eventually took the match, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.
"I felt very comfortable because we had a big crowd, and it
helped me a lot through the tough times," said Allegre.
Alex Decret added padding to the Bruin victory running past
USC’s Roman Kukal 6-2 in the third set after a 6-3 first set and
3-6 second set.
The Trojans did manage to slip out of Bruin territory with 2
singles victories.
USC’s Fernando Samayoa put the Trojans on the board defeating a
frustrated redshirt freshman Chris Sands, 6-7, 2-6.
USC’s second point did not come without a struggle. Trojan
George Bastl and Bruin freshman Jean-Noel Grinda claimed the
longest match of the day, taking the third set to a tiebreaker.
Bastl jumped ahead with a 6-1 first set, while Grinda pocketed
the second set 6-3. Bastl regained momentum in the tiebreak game to
win 7-6.
The Trojans also managed to avoid the doubles sweep as USC’s
Kukal and Samayoa defeated Allegre and Sands 4-8.
But ultimately the doubles point belonged to the Bruins. Grinda
and Breen pushed past Bastl and Spencer 8-6.
The No. 2 doubles team of Decret and Newman started slow, as
USC’s team of Gottesleben and Zaman pulled out 3-0. They stifled
the Trojans’ start, defeating them 8-5.
"It was by far our best match for both singles and doubles the
whole year – a tremendous win for us," UCLA head coach Billy Martin
said. "I’m tickled to death. I’m hoping this is going to be the
turning point of our season."
So was it UCLA’s win or USC’s loss?
"They had nothing really to gain … and everything to lose
coming in here and playing us without (two of) our guys,"said
Martin.
On that note, the Bruins pulled out all the weapons to avenge a
loss to USC earlier in the season.
"I knew things had to click for us for us to really pull it out
like this and it did," Martin said.
PATRICK LAM
Freshman Jean-Noel Grinda won a grueling three-set match vs.
USC.