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The UCLA men’s tennis team may not have won a repeat national title, but Benjamin Kohlloeffel made sure the program didn’t come home empty-handed.

Kohlloeffel became the first Bruin in 31 years to win an NCAA singles title on Monday, defeating Virginia’s Somdev Devvarman 6-1, 6-4 in the NCAA final on Memorial Day. The last Bruin to win the single’s title is current UCLA coach Billy Martin, who was at Kohlloeffel’s side for every match.

“I’m just really happy; it’s such an incredible feeling to win the NCAAs,” Kohlloeffel said. “I’m happy to be the next Bruin to win it after coach Martin.”

The week saw Kohlloeffel dominate whichever player came his way. Dropping only one set throughout the tournament as he recovered from a setback against Colorado’s Eric Molnar in the second round, he never gave his opponents another chance. After sweeping through the first two rounds with relative ease, Kohlloeffel ran into perhaps the only player to reveal his weakness – Cal’s Conor Niland.

“When I looked at his draw I thought this would be the tough one,” UCLA coach Billy Martin said.

After beating San Diego’s Pierrick Ysern in the third round, the junior was facing Niland, another Pac-10 player that had beat him in dual matches this season; Niland had claimed both their matches in straight sets. But their third face-to-face saw Kohlloeffel get a straight-set victory smile, as he won the match 6-4, 6-2.

“His backhand did it for him in that match, and after that I knew he had a really good chance overall,” Martin said.

The 6-1, 6-4 score might make it appear as though Kohlloeffel had an easy final run to the title. But the junior had a few moments of doubt that could have turned things around.

“I knew I had chances to win it, but you have to come out every day and fight hard for it because once you’re sloppy or not focused, you lose,” Kohlloeffel said. “I’m just glad that I kept my focus going.”

Kohlloeffel flew through a 30-minute-long set, claiming it 6-1 with a serve that saw Devvarman’s returns die in the net. The second set looked as though it was going to be an even shorter affair, Kohlloeffel being up 4-1. But Devvarman immediately broke back, as nerves took the better of Kohlloeffel for a few minutes.

“Once I was up 4-1, I started realizing that I could win it and it’s a tough feeling,” Kohlloeffel said. “If you’re close to closing it out, you have a lot of thoughts in your head and it’s tough to play and tough to finish it.”

The Bruin held on to one of his breaks however, and through one of his trademark volleys, he claimed the second set 6-4 and became the 2006 individual national champion.

“We won it with the team last year and it was great and winning it individually, it makes me feel good,” Kohlloeffel said. “I’m proud of being here and it’s a good achievement for me.”

“There is not much I could have done today,” Devvarman said. “Kohlloeffel just played a really good match all the way through and gave me very little chance.”

With this title, Kohlloeffel joins not only his current coach Billy Martin on the list of Bruins who claimed the individual title, but other tennis legends as well, such as Arthur Ashe in 1965 and Jimmy Connors in 1971.

“I did not go in the tournament thinking I might find myself on the same list as Jimmy Connors,” Kohlloeffel said. “But it is obviously nice to be there with my current coach and great tennis players.”

The entire season has been a series of record-breaking achievements for Kohlloeffel. In his 50 victories since the beginning of the season, the junior only dropped six sets since September. He now holds a 92-12 career singles record (50-4 this season) since he started competing for the Bruin tennis team at the beginning of his sophomore season.

With a team title in 2005 and an individual one in 2006, the prospect of combining his achievements of the last two years next season is always welcome.

“It is a better feeling to win it with the team, but why not experience both of them next year?” Kohlloeffel said.

While that would be a great achievement, right now the Bruins are just happy for Kohlloeffel and excited that he will be returning next year.

“We are just very proud of him and are happy he will be back with the team next year,” Martin said.