Perfect season has been a year of struggles for senior netter

Thursday, May 9, 1996

By Mark Shapiro

Daily Bruin Staff

Four straight times, seasons of excellence have come to abrupt
conclusions at the same time each year.

With its first undefeated season in 20 years, the top-ranked
UCLA men’s tennis team is the odds-on favorite going into the NCAA
Championships, where it has a chance to end a most painful streak
of four consecutive trips to the national semifinals, which all
ended in losses.

Of all of the Bruins on this year’s squad, senior Heath
Montgomery has been the longest suffering, having been a part of
three of those squads. Starting as a freshman, on into his
sophomore and junior year, he has been a part of a team that has
looked great on paper, but has just not been able to get over the
hump. Having three consecutive crash landings in the semifinals can
add up to a serious monkey on your back.

"It does feel like a monkey on our back because we have had
teams in the past that have been good enough to win it, but it
would have taken a little something extra," Montgomery said. "We
were just never able to come together with it.

"I’ve always been disappointed that we weren’t able to do it.
It’s been a hard pill to swallow, which is why I absolutely do not
want to get into that again."

Chances are he won’t, because this season Montgomery is part of
a team whose conglomeration of talent has led to results
unparalleled in two decades, talent that has received an
incalculable boost over the past few weeks. After suffering through
the first half of the season struggling to find his game and fend
off injury, Montgomery has rediscovered the level of play that
carried him to a 60-29 career record. He has reestablished his
position in the singles lineup on the road to a championship.

As the time gets closer for the Bruins to head off to Athens,
Ga. and thrust themselves into the breech once more, the dreams
Montgomery harbored when he chose UCLA are once again nearing
fruition.

As one of the finest tennis players to come out of Santa Barbara
in the ’90s, schools whose names are synonymous with winning were
knocking on his door. With Stanford breathing down his neck,
Montgomery selected UCLA, secure in the knowledge that in his
choice lay a championship. Four years later, with those aspirations
yet unfulfilled, the middle weekend in May looms as his final
chance for a ring.

"One of the reasons that I chose UCLA was because every year it
has been a top-five favorite to win the NCAA championship,"
Montgomery said. "I came here with the goal to win at least one
championship. For me to win it this year would make or break my
year."

After the downward spiral that was the past three seasons,
Montgomery arrived this year to find a level of talent and strength
of character he had yet to see in a Bruin team.

"When I saw the team we had this year, I wanted to win a
national championship," Montgomery said. "For me to be a part of
this really makes me feel good. This year we have the most talented
team in the nation, but we still have to come up with something
extra in NCAAs."

Through the fall, title hopes permeated the squad and a singles
ladder nonpareil came together, with Montgomery holding down the
No. 4 spot by virtue of his 31-12 record last year. However, all
was not well, for injuries began to hinder Montgomery’s play. First
an arch, then an arm and Montgomery found himself stuck trying to
stay healthy as the season kicked into full swing.

"It’s difficult because when the season starts you don’t really
have time to work on your game," Montgomery said. "Coming from
injury it’s very difficult to do."

The hardships for Montgomery continued through the year, and as
his injuries hung around, his level of play began to fall. Several
matches into the season, a consistent level of play was something
Montgomery could not find, and his lack of victories soon cost him
his spot in the singles ladder. In his senior year, as co-captain,
Montgomery had to sit.

"The coaches asked me if I thought that I could win and I told
them that I was still not playing well and I just don’t know,"
Montgomery said. "(UCLA head coach Billy Martin) put in someone
else to give them a chance. It was one of the hardest things I’ve
had to do all year because for the first time I had to admit that I
wasn’t able to do it."

With a chance to ruminate on the bench as the team continued its
tear through the regular season, Montgomery got a taste of the
sidelines that did not go down well. However, the fortitude that
comes with having played three years of collegiate tennis was not
to be denied.

"I just felt like it was just taking longer than it should,"
Montgomery said. "I just needed to keep working hard and I will
come out of it. I always feel like if I hit a low point, hard work
will get me out of it. I was very lucky that the coaches believed
that I could play at that level and give me a chance to work my way
back up to the level I’m at now."

Through his hours of play on the court and dedication to
visualization techniques off the court, Montgomery made his return
in style, losing only a handful of matches in the second half of
the season. In one of his losses, he took Ryan Wolters of Stanford,
who spent the early part of the season ranked No. 1 in the nation,
to three sets, before losing 6-4 in the third. However, his newly
invigorated play has reestablished his position for the stretch
run.

"I took away any doubt that I would lose or have any problems
with my opponents and I’ve been able to bring my game back,"
Montgomery said. "I really started to believe that I could win
again and play at this level."

Now, as the team stands poised to take home UCLA’s first tennis
championship since 1984, Montgomery sees the tide turning in favor
of the Bruins. In one more week, Montgomery hopes three dark
endings will be washed away in the glory of a championship to mark
the end of a career.

"Someone told me that luck comes to those who are best
prepared," Montgomery said. "We’ve been working hard all year and
what it comes down to is that our hard work will show up."

Senior Heath MontgomerySCOTT O/Daily Bruin

Heath Montgomery is the only Bruin to have suffered through the
tennis team’s last three NCAA semifinal defeats.