Bruins stampede over Mustangs

Wednesday, February 11, 1998

Bruins stampede over Mustangs

MTENNIS: With two injured, underclassmen join veteran players to
sweep Cal Poly SLO

By Stephanie Chan

Daily Bruin Contributor

The Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Mustangs galloped in and stumbled
out of the Los Angeles Tennis Center yesterday.

Up on the saddle, holding the reigns, was the No. 2 UCLA men’s
tennis team as it directed a 7-0 sweep.

These reigns were gripped by a combination of the experience of
juniors Vince Allegre and Brandon Kramer and senior Matt Breen, and
the liveliness of redshirt freshman Chris Sands, not to mention the
play of freshmen Jean-Noel Grinda and Noah Newman.

"I always feel like it’s important for us to play at our best
level no matter who we’re playing. This isn’t the strongest team,
but I thought a good warm-up for us," said UCLA head coach Billy
Martin.

The No. 1 match featured the battle of the giants, with Grinda
at 6 feet 3 inches and Cal Poly’s Chris Magyary at 6 feet 6
inches.

"(He had a) huge serve. … He is 6-foot-6, so that helps," said
Grinda of Magyary.

"I moved well … that’s what I’ve been working on the last few
days."

Grinda definitely knows how to move people around as well.
Magyary fell to Grinda, 6-4, 7-5.

The quickest match of the day sped past court No. 5 as Chris
Sands left skid marks on Cal Poly’s David Wermuth.

"I definitely felt like I won," said Sands.

"I was hitting a lot of winners and at the same time I was
playing good defense."

Sands slipped and slid around the court, hustling to every ball.
He ran to the bench between games and to the court after the break.
His hustling paid off with a 6-1, 6-0 victory.

Newman continued the streak of rookie dominance in the No. 6
match, in his first opportunity of the season to compete in dual
play.

"I was a little nervous because it was my first match out there,
so luckily I was seeing the ball well," said Newman.

"I was hitting winners all over the place."

Newman’s winners combined for a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Sevan
Zenopian.

The wrist injury of junior Jason Cook and back problems of
senior Alex Decret opened doors for the underclassmen to prove
themselves. Cook’s return is yet to be determined, but Martin is
sure that Decret will be back for Friday’s match.

The trampling of the Mustangs would not have been possible,
though, without the solid play of the veterans.

In the No. 2 match, Allegre frustrated Brett Masi. Though it was
a game of close calls, the score was in no way close, with Allegre
defeating Masi 6-2, 6-2.

On third court, Breen was in complete control, dominating
Michael Mgebrov. Breen took the match 6-1, 6-0.

Kramer’s play in the No. 4 match left his opponent Tony Picutta
scolding himself. The hard-hitting Picutta could not overcome
Kramer with a second-set comeback. Kramer silenced Picutta 6-0,
7-6.

As for the doubles’ matches, the Mustangs would not go down
easily.

"We won it, but I didn’t feel like we played a high level of
tennis," said Martin of the doubles point.

The real test will be the USC match Friday, hosted by an
excellent Trojan team.