Freshmen make it happen for tennis

There was a blue shirt ““ symbolic of new blood ““
among the white-clad men’s tennis team.

Freshman Aaron Yovan made his tennis debut Wednesday against the
visiting San Diego Toreros (2-2) and contributed to a 7-0 UCLA win
at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.

Yovan was the first to complete his match, dominating his
opponent Nick Caldwell 6-2, 6-0.

“Yovan was done really quickly,” sophomore Chris Lam
said. “I was still in my first set when he was done. He took
care of business.”

Yovan received his first opportunity to play this season when
head coach Billy Martin made a game-time switch, deciding to rest
senior Lassi Ketola. Robbie Blair, USD’s No. 1 player did not
play either, and all six Bruins did not drop a set.

The most tense moment came when senior Erfan Djahangiri was
bumped into while exchanging sides with a cursing Nic Beuque of
USD, unhappy about a line call.

“I saw it one way, and he disagreed,” explained
Djahangiri.

Not all the matches were as easy for the Bruins (5-0) as the
score implied. Lam dropped the first three games of his set before
coming back to win 7-5. At one point, he threw his racket down in
disgust, but easily took the second set 6-3.

“I want him to get better starts,” Martin said.
“It’s great that he has the poise to come back, but he
is having slower starts lately and that may not happen against
tough opponents.”

Freshman Chris Surapol, teamed with senior Rodrigo Grilli, was
given his first opportunity to play doubles during the
Bruins’ sweep of the doubles matches: 8-1, 8-3, and 8-3.

It was a day of firsts for the freshmen and they were up to the
challenge.

The Bruins will face No. 24 Ohio State at home Friday at 1:30
p.m.