Bruins can’t quench Stanford’s firepower

Monday, 4/21/97 Bruins can’t quench Stanford’s firepower
Heartbreaker hinges on battle between No. 1s Taino, Wolters

By Mark Shapiro Daily Bruin Staff For the second time in three
weeks, the UCLA men’s tennis team and the Stanford University
equivalent grappled on the hard courts, not only in a Pac-10
showdown but in a renewal of perhaps the most intense rivalry in
collegiate tennis. With Round 1 notched on their belts and a
23-match win streak to boot, the top-ranked Bruins (24-2, 8-1)
rolled up north looking to secure a season sweep of the
fifth-ranked Cardinal for the second consecutive year. This time,
however, Stanford and its legions of Cardinal faithful were too
much for UCLA and, at the end of another nerve-jangling dual match,
the Cardinal were the victors by a 4-3 count. As is becoming the
norm with these matches, the final result again came down to the
last individual match of the day after all the preceding action
left the score knotted at three. UCLA jumped on top first as it
claimed the single point awarded for the doubles. The No. 1 team of
Kevin Kim and Eric Lin, ranked fourth in the nation, and the third
team of Matt Breen and Jason Cook both won, swinging the early
favor to the Bruins. It was in singles action that the match kicked
into high gear. Breen and Cook, fresh off their doubles victory,
posted victories at five and six singles respectively – Breen
knocked off Grant Elliot in three sets and Cook downed Charles
Hoeveler in straight sets. The losses mounted for the Bruins as
they moved higher up the singles ladder, however. At No. 4,
sophomore Vincent Allegre lost to Geoff Abrams in three sets for
the second straight time. At No. 3, Kevin Kim saw his 10-match win
streak disappear as he fell to Mike Bryan in three sets. The woes
continued for the Bruins at No. 2 singles as junior Alex Decret’s
struggles against freshman Bob Bryan continued when he could not
claim a set in a 7-6, 6-1 defeat. So, in a serious case of deja vu,
the match came down to Taino, ranked 10th in the nation, against
Stanford’s Ryan Wolters, ranked 12th. This time, Wolters had a bit
more firepower. Wolters won the day for the Cardinal with a 6-4,
5-7, 6-4 victory. * * * Friday’s match against California in
Berkeley was rained out. At press time, the results were
unavailable for Sunday’s makeup match. Stanford 4, UCLA 3