UCLA
Texas (NCAA Sweet 16)
UCLA Men's Tennis Advances to NCAA Quarterfinals
May 20, 2000 | Men's Tennis
May 20, 2000
ATHENS, Ga. - The No. 2 seed UCLA Bruins defeated No. 15 seed Texas 4-0 in the NCAA Men's Tennis Championships Round of 16 hosted by the University of Georgia at Dan Magill Tennis Complex Saturday.
UCLA improves its record to 24-3 overall and will face No. 10 seed Tennessee, who defeated Texas A&M 4-3 Saturday, in the NCAA quarterfinals Sunday at 11 am Eastern time. The Texas Longhorns finish the season with a 20-7 mark.
UCLA won the point awarded for doubles play after securing wins on courts No. 1 and 2. Court No. 2 was first to finish as the duo of Chris Sands and Jong-Min Lee, who are playing in only their third match together this season, cruised past Texas' Jorge Haro and Brandon Hawk 8-2. Courts No. 1 and 3 were more evenly matched, as the score was tied at 5-5 on both courts before the Bruin tandem of Jean-Noel Grinda and Jean-Julien Rojer, ranked No. 41 in the nation, took control on court No. 1 and upset the No. 4 team in the nation, Michael Blue and Nick Crowell, 8-5. Court No. 3 was locked at 6-6 before doubles play was suspended.
In singles action, UCLA took control early on, winning the first set in all but the No. 5 position. Rojer, ranked No. 64, gave UCLA its first singles point, defeating Blue, ranked No. 49 in the nation, 6-2, 6-4 on court No. 3. Court No. 2 was next to finish, as UCLA's No. 47 Jean-Noel Grinda, who is making his third NCAA Tournament appearance in as many years, quickly dispatched of Crowell, ranked No. 71, 6-3, 6-2. With UCLA ahead 3-0, the remaining courts went to three sets. Ketola eventually decided the match when he defeated Longhorn junior Craig Edmondson 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in the No. 4 position.
"This was a real close match," UCLA head coach Billy Martin said. "The score was deceiving. It was a lot closer than the 4-0 score indicated. Every one of the three [remaining singles matches] could have gone either way. We were lucky to win at No. 4 or the match would have been a lot different.
"Going into tomorrow, I definitely feel like the underdog. If we were at full strength, we would probably be favored, but we are a little banged up right now (senior All-American Brandon Kramer fractured his wrist and will be unable to compete in the tournament). Tomorrow we will have to play a super match and try to give it everything we've got."
UCLA will be making its 23rd NCAA quarterfinals appearance in the 24 years since the current team format was adopted in 1977 (1998 was the only year missed). The Bruins, who have won 13 of its last 14 matches, are 6-1 in the series against the Tennessee Volunteers.
Doubles--UCLA wins the point 1 (41) J. Grinda / J. Rojer (UCLA) def. (4) M. Blue / N. Crowell (UT) 8-5 2 J. Lee / C. Sands (UCLA) def. J. Haro / B. Hawk (UT) 8-2 3 L. Ketola / T. Rettenmaier (UCLA) vs. R. Kloppert / S. Patak (UT)6-6, susp.
Singles 1 (27) Jong Min Lee (UCLA) vs. (36) Brandon Hawk (UT)6-4, 4-6, 3-2, susp. 2 (47) Jean-Noel Grinda (UCLA) vs. (71) Nick Crowell (UT)6-3, 6-2 3 (64) Jean-Julien Rojer (UCLA) vs. (49) Michael Blue (UT)6-2, 6-4 4 Lassi Ketola (UCLA) vs. Craig Edmondson (UT)6-3, 4-6, 6-4* 5 Erfan Djahangiri (UCLA) vs. Ron Kloppert (UT) 1-6, 6-4, 5-4, susp. 6 Chris Sands (UCLA) vs. Jorge Haro (UT)6-3, 4-6, 5-2, susp.* Clinched the match
UCLA 4, Texas 0
