UCLA men's tennis seeks to avenge last season's loss to Arizona, the first in school history
Adrian Puget and No. 14 UCLA will look to keep up improved doubles play.
Men’s tennis
Arizona
Today, 1:30 p.m.
Los Angeles Tennis Center
Track live stats on UCLABruins.com
By Rohan Popat
April 8, 2011 1:54 a.m.
Facing the prospect of losing yet another tight doubles point against another top team, the UCLA men’s tennis team’s No. 1 tandem of Alex Brigham and Adrien Puget mustered up enough to win the point against Washington Friday.
This young Bruin squad may look back on that moment as a turning point in the season. After beating Washington 5-2, UCLA then rode its momentum to a 7-0 demolition of Oregon the following day.
“In some matches, half of the team would show up and play great, and some wouldn’t,” freshman Clay Thompson said. “But, this past weekend, we put it all together and we showed that when we come ready to play we are a great team.”
The No. 14 Bruins hope to ride this resurgent wave of confidence into their next two matches: against No. 55 Arizona today and No. 6 Pepperdine on Monday in Malibu.
UCLA has some personal revenge to exact against Arizona, after losing to the Wildcats for the first time in school history last year.
“I haven’t forgotten that match, and I hope our returning guys haven’t either,” coach Billy Martin said.
Even though Arizona is having a down year this season, Martin hopes to use the Bruins’ shocking loss from last year as a motivation for his players to not be complacent or to overlook their opponent.
The Wildcats return one of their top players in senior Jay Goldman, who has stepped up to No. 1 in the Arizona lineup this year.
In addition, the Wildcats have a strong player at No. 2 in the lineup in senior Andres Carrasco, currently ranked No. 111 in the nation.
One of the bright spots for the Bruins over the past few weeks has been the play of Puget, who helped clinch that all-important doubles point against the Cougars before going on to easily win his singles match.
The freshman stressed that the Bruins need to stay focused solely on Arizona and should be able to get a win if they bring their best effort.
“I’m pretty sure we have a good record against them, but we have to play the way we are capable,” Puget said.
A “good record” would be an understatement. The Bruins are 74-1 all-time in matches against Arizona, but their last meeting serves as a reminder that every match is important and has to be taken seriously.
“Our senior captain, Amit Inbar, came up to us young guys during practice and told us that we really need to send them a strong message,” Thompson said. “I think Arizona will be a great test for us to see how focused we are, and whether we can keep riding this momentum and hopefully take it with us against Pepperdine and USC.”
