Bruins kick off dual-match play by conquering San Diego State

Thursday, January 15, 1998

Bruins kick off dual-match play by conquering San Diego
State

RECAP: Grinda, Allegre give Coach Martin reasons for optimism in
his fifth season

By Ryota Kawai

Daily Bruin Contributor

The men’s tennis team opened dual-match play successfully
against San Diego State University Wednesday. The No. 2-ranked
Bruins beat the No. 44 Aztecs, 5-2, at the Sunset Village Tennis
Courts. Originally scheduled to be held at the Los Angeles Tennis
Center, the match was moved to the Sunset Village Tennis Courts
because renovations to the LATC were not yet completed.

After an impressive showing at the recent National Collegiate
Tennis Classic, senior Matt Breen lost to SDSU’s Alexander Waske,
7-6, 6-7, 3-6, in a long, intense battle. Breen is the Bruins’ No.
3 player and is ranked 54th by the Intercollegiate Tennis
Association for the fall.

The Bruins’ No. 1 player, freshman Jean-Noel Grinda, defeated
Bobby Hrdina, 6-4, 7-6. Grinda, ranked sixth in the nation, is a
product of Porc Imperial High School in France. Another product of
France is junior Vince Allegre. Allegre is ranked fourth in the
nation but played second for the team yesterday. Allegre was beaten
by Eric Faulk, 3-6, 6-7.

Other scores from the match included victories by junior Jason
Cook over Frank Morgan, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1; senior Alex Decret over
Nguey Lay, 6-4, 6-3; and junior Brandon Kramer over Kolo
Green-Rosenthal, 6-3, 6-3.

In doubles, the Bruins beat the Aztecs 2-1. The team of Breen
and Cook defeated Waske and Morgan, 8-4; Allegre and Grinda beat
Hrdina and Adamson, 9-7; Decret and Kramer won over Faulk and Lay,
8-2.

In his fifth season as the men’s tennis coach, Billy Martin
feels optimistic about the 1997-98 season. Martin said, "The makeup
of the team is good. We have good talent. Our singles lineup is
very strong, but our doubles needs some more work." Martin has much
to be optimistic about with the steady play of Grinda and Allegre,
ranked 24th together as a doubles tandem.

With the loss of Kevin Kim, a freshman last year, the team needs
to "be on top of our game to compete with the top teams," said
Martin. Kim, who played third last year for the team, turned pro,
leaving a big hole in the Bruins’ lineup. Martin feels that Kim
would have played first or second this year and would have
contributed a great deal to the team.

A critical member of the team this year will be Grinda. Grinda
has a lot to look forward to for the season and feels that "the
year can’t get much better." Martin has a great deal of confidence
in Grinda to be playing him at No. 1, considering that he is a
freshman. Hampered by an arm injury for six months, Grinda is now
ready to play for the rest of the year.