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."