Friday, May 15, 1998
No. 10 UCLA hosts regional at LATC
MEN’S TENNIS: Just missing automatic bid,
win would send team to championship
By Evan Lovett
Daily Bruin Contributor
The No. 10 UCLA men’s tennis team will serve as host in the
upcoming NCAA regional, with the winner of the region advancing to
the men’s finals.
The regional, which also includes Arizona State, Arizona, UC
Santa Barbara, Oregon and Washington, will be played at the Los
Angeles Tennis Center from May 15-17.
As the 10th-ranked team in the nation, the Bruins barely missed
out on an exemption from regional play, as the top eight teams
automatically qualify for the finals, held at the University of
Georgia from May 23-31.
UCLA is the prohibitive favorite in the region, with decisive
wins over Arizona, Arizona State and Oregon earlier in the year,
while getting edged by Washington in a rain-plagued match on the
Huskies’ home court. The Bruins have yet to play UC Santa
Barbara.
Coach Billy Martin’s Bruins are led by Vince Allegre, Jean-Noel
Grinda and Matt Breen. Allegre, ranked No. 11 in the nation, is
coming into regionals having won five of his last six matches.
Grinda, a freshman, has been inconsistent of late, losing five of
his last eight matches, though still maintaining the No. 22 spot in
the national rankings.
The No. 34 ranked Breen may be playing the best tennis of the
three, winning 10 of his last 13 matches. Each will represent UCLA
in the NCAA singles championships, scheduled to take place after
the team championships in Georgia.
The Bruins will receive a bye in the first round due to their
high seed and are not scheduled to play until 1:30 p.m. on
Saturday. UCLA will face the winner of No. 43 Arizona and No. 30
Arizona State, who play at 1:30 p.m. on Friday. Arizona comes into
the regional with a 6-11 record on the year, including a 6-1
drubbing by UCLA.
The Wildcats’ best hopes lie with unranked Roland Kupka, who is
winless in five matches vs. UCLA players. Gustavo Maraccio leads
Arizona State into battle by way of his No. 48 ranking and
domination of Arizona players, against whom he has yet to lose. The
Sun Devils also lost to the Bruins, 6-1, in a previous match.
The 10:30 a.m. match will pit UC Santa Barbara against Oregon, a
rematch of an earlier contest won by the Gauchos, 6-1. Erwan
Kergroach supplied the Ducks’ only point that that day, a
straight-set victory over the Gauchos’ Cory Guy. Kergroach is the
only Oregon player to post a winning record this year. UC Santa
Barbara has surpassed early season expectations behind strong play
from Guy, as well as No. 55 Jong Min Lee.
The winner of the Oregon-UC Santa Barbara match advances to play
No. 19 Washington at 10:30 a.m. Saturday. The Huskies finished the
season with a 14-6 record, including a stunning home-court victory
over UCLA. Washington may be the surprise team in this bracket,
posting a 4-1 record against teams in the region. Eric Drew anchors
the Husky attack, on the strength of his No. 26 ranking and stellar
performance in last weekend’s Pac-10 Championships in Ojai.
The winners of the Saturday matches return Sunday to play in the
1 p.m. championship match, with the winner advancing to the
National Championships in Georgia.
The time is right for UCLA to play on all cylinders, as five of
these teams will be sent packing after this weekend at the LATC.
The touted Bruins have the talent to win the region and realize
that this weekend is the first step toward winning the national
title.