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Men’s tennis wary of possible upset against Tulsa

Sophomore Joseph Di Giulio said UCLA will be preparing for Tulsa using the same method of preparation that notched the team a win against Stanford over the weekend. (Katie Meyers/Daily Bruin senior staff)

By Korbin Placet

March 3, 2015 12:45 a.m.

Fans were still leaving the Los Angeles Tennis Center. Courts were still being cleared off. Stanford was still having their team meeting. For the UCLA men’s tennis team, that dual match was behind them, and they were looking to the next.

Last Saturday, after their win against the Cardinal, the No. 21 Bruins (7-5) watched No. 51 Tulsa’s dual match against No. 1 USC on their phones and laptops as they were packing up to go home.

They looked in disbelief as they stared at their screens as USC fell to Tulsa 4-3.

“That is a pretty shocking defeat,” said coach Billy Martin right after hearing about the loss.

The Trojans underestimated their opponent, and that is something the Bruins’ coach is not going to do on Tuesday, Martin said. USC had a 10-1 record until it fell to Tulsa (10-6), with its only loss to No. 2 Oklahoma.

“You know they are going to come over here sky-high after beating the No. 1 team in the country, so we are going to have to be really ready,” Martin said.

The Bruins are not going to take a break like they usually do after a weekend win. The team said it doesn’t want to take any chances on an opponent that caused such a big upset.

“We are going have a light practice (on Sunday), hit on Monday, just get ready again. We had a good week of preparation for (the match against Stanford),” said sophomore Joseph Di Giulio. “So we are going to keep doing the same stuff and just have some good practices before we play (Tulsa).”

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Junior co-captain Karue Sell said that if UCLA manages to grind out a tough win against Tulsa, that victory could be a stepping stone for its upcoming matchup against USC as the Trojans lost to the Golden Hurricane over the weekend. (Hannah Ye/Daily Bruin)

UCLA’s original plan before hearing the news was to use the Tulsa dual match as a momentum builder as they prepared to face off against USC the following week. Now, the Bruins’ mindsets have changed. They plan to still use this dual match to gain momentum if they win, but they are taking the Golden Hurricane much more seriously.

“If we end up having a good match and beating them, not easy but have it be competitive, then yeah it’s going to be a confidence booster going into (USC),” said junior co-captain Karue Sell.

The Bruins have lost three of their last five matches and are struggling to repeat their performance of last season. However, UCLA still boasts an undefeated record at home. They look to defend that record this Tuesday against Tulsa.

“I think it will allow me to make sure the guys are really ready for a battle,” Martin said about preparing for Tulsa. “I mean you don’t beat (USC) over at (USC), come over here, and we are going to think it’s a cake walk. I think our guys are going to go, ‘Wow, okay, we got to take these guys seriously’.”

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Korbin Placet | Alumnus
Placet joined the Bruin as a junior in 2014 and contributed until after he graduated in 2016. He was an assistant Sports editor for the 2015-2016 academic year and spent time on the men's basketball, women's basketball, softball, women's soccer, women's volleyball and men's tennis beats.
Placet joined the Bruin as a junior in 2014 and contributed until after he graduated in 2016. He was an assistant Sports editor for the 2015-2016 academic year and spent time on the men's basketball, women's basketball, softball, women's soccer, women's volleyball and men's tennis beats.
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