M. tennis: Men’s tennis award No. 4 seed

Surprised? Not really. Relieved? Somewhat. Excited? Of course.
The NCAA men’s tennis tournament bracket was released
Wednesday, and the Bruins weren’t terribly shocked by what
transpired. The third-ranked Bruins received the tournament’s
No. 4 seed, and they will open regional play May 15 at home against
Oral Roberts. “This is the best time of the year,”
junior captain Chris Lam said. “This is what it’s all
about.” UCLA (18-5) has won nine straight matches, and a loss
now would end the season. That fact alone will make for two weeks
of tennis excitement that the Bruins hope will conclude with an
NCAA Championship victory May 25 in Tulsa, Okla. “I’m
very nervous and keyed up,” coach Billy Martin said.
“Your destiny gets put right in front of you.” That
destiny, assuming UCLA gets past Oral Roberts, could include
matches against Pepperdine, Duke and No. 1 Illinois. The Bruins
have already lost to the Fighting Illini once this season, a fact
that has them looking forward to another chance at the defending
champions. “Everyone wants to beat Illinois right now because
they’re undefeated,” Lam said. But there’s a lot
of work still to be done before that opportunity would present
itself. First up, Oral Roberts (6-13). The Bruins don’t know
much about their first-round opponent, but the Mid-Continent
conference champions don’t exactly have the Bruins shaking.
“It sounds like a dentist to me,” senior Tobias Clemens
said. But that’s for later. On Wednesday, most of the talk
was about the other parts of the bracket. Perhaps the most shocking
development was USC being awarded the No. 2 seed despite being
ranked fourth in the country, behind both Baylor and UCLA.
“To put ‘SC ahead of Baylor was definitely
surprising,” Martin said. But the Trojans did register a
victory over the Bears back in March, one of only two Baylor losses
in the season. Like UCLA, USC will also be hosting a regional,
playing host to Montana State in the first round. California and
San Diego face off in the other first-round match at USC. Also
noteworthy about the tournament bracket is the overwhelming
representation of teams from the Pac-10 and the Southeastern
Conference. Every single team from both conferences made the
tournament. “That’s incredible,” Martin said.
Wednesday also provided a chance to reflect on the past. Last year
UCLA was the tournament’s No. 6 seed, but the team lost to
seventh-seeded Vanderbilt in the semifinals. In Clemens’
Bruin career, he has seen his team enter the tournament with great
expectations, and every year, he has gone home depressed. Not since
1984 has UCLA taken home an NCAA Championship. “I’m not
talking about chances anymore,” Clemens said. Instead,
Clemens is just ready to go. He’s been waiting all year for
one more opportunity to win an NCAA Championship, and now
it’s at his doorstep. “I’m just excited to get
going,” Clemens said. “It’s just a matter of
executing and getting over that final hump.”

AWARDS: Pac-10 awards were announced yesterday,
and the doubles team of Kris Kwinta and Alberto Francis was named
co-Pac-10 doubles team of the year. In singles, Clemens made his
third straight All Pac-10 Team. Lam and Luben Pampoulov were Pac-10
Honorable Mention selections.