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Kris Kwinta and Luben Pampoulov, members of last year’s championship team, remain involved

PALO ALTO — 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.