Bruins swing for slice of history with attempt to pull off 3-peat

Thursday, February 19, 1998

Bruins swing for slice of history with attempt to pull off
3-peat

M. TENNIS: UCLA has difficult opposition to beat in quest for
team indoor championship title

By Stephanie Chan

Daily Bruin Contributor

For the UCLA men’s tennis program, setting records is nothing
new. The Bruins are tied with Stanford and USC for holding the most
NCAA team titles with 15 apiece. But one record that only UCLA is
in the position to own this season is the label of first school to
win three straight USTA/ITA Men’s National Team Indoor
Championships titles.

Last year, the Bruins defeated Fresno State, Duke, Mississippi
and Georgia en route to the 1997 National Team Indoor title.

Starting today and lasting until Sunday, the Bruins will be
fending off the top teams in the nation in search of the
three-peat. The tournament field includes the nation’s 12
top-ranked teams and four regional representatives. All of the
teams are in the top 25.

UCLA has only played one of the teams in this field of 16, the
only team they have lost to – USC. Pepperdine, who the Bruins were
scheduled to play but did not due to rain, is also among the pool
of UCLA’s potential competitors.

First up for the No. 2 Bruins is No. 15 Illinois. Excluding
tournament appearances, the Illini enter the National Team Indoors
1-0 with a victory over No. 21 Northwestern. They are ranked No. 1
in their region and boast two ranked players, No. 57 Oliver
Freelove and No. 86 Cary Franklin.

The new February ITA rankings have UCLA’s Vince Allegre at No.
9, Jean-Noel Grinda at No. 12, Matt Breen at No. 30 and Jason Cook
at No. 77. The only Bruin to move up the ladder was Breen, jumping
up from No. 54.

The team enters the tournament 6-1 overall and 2-1 in Pac-10
play.

If UCLA wins today’s match they will face the winner of the No.
5 Mississippi/No. 12 Pepperdine match on Friday.

When the stakes are high, so is the adrenaline. If the Bruins
pump it up for this tournament, they’ll own a record they won’t
have to share with Stanford and Southern Cal.