Club tennis team yanked from tournament

Midway through its quest for a first USTA Team Tennis National
Campus Championship, the UCLA club tennis team stumbled across a
pesky little roadblock — the rulebook. While
warming up for their quarterfinal match against Michigan last
Friday, the Bruins were pulled from the court and disqualified
after officials determined star player Kate Jolson to be
ineligible. The senior, who left the women’s
varsity program back in January, was nevertheless still considered
to be a member of that team because of an individual varsity
tournament in which she had played earlier that month in Indian
Wells. “We were kicking butt and all of a sudden
an official walked onto the court and asked to talk to Kate and
me,†team captain Mark Otten said. “I
couldn’t fathom it at first.†The
tournament rules stipulate that each team may field one player who
previously played at the varsity level in college. Because Jolson
left Stella Sampras Webster’s program back in
January before any dual matches and was not currently on the
roster, Otten assumed she was cleared to play in the coed club team
event held in Austin, Texas. “We were really
surprised by that,†said Otten, who was unaware of
Jolson’s participation at the Indian Wells
event. “The decision was understandable, but the
timing was horrible.†Instead of playing for a spot in
the semifinals, the Bruins were hopelessly pleading their case to
tournament officials. On Saturday evening, Texas A&M defeated
Virginia in the finals to win the title.

MEN’S TENNIS: Juniors
Benjamin Kohlloeffel and Philipp Gruendler of the UCLA
men’s tennis team earned Pac-10 Players of the
Week honors for their performance against crosstown rival USC this
past Friday. The duo defeated 32nd-ranked Jamil Al-Agba and Dejan
Cvetkovic 9-8(6) at No. 1 doubles to go an undefeated 20-0 this
season in dual-match play and shatter the
school’s past record for most doubles matches
won. It is the first time a doubles team has earned the
distinction, though Kohlloeffel has been named Pac-10 Player of the
Week twice for his singles play.

MEN’S GOLF: In the first day
of the Pac-10 Tournament, which consisted of 36 holes, the
men’s golf team took the lead after shortly
falling behind Washington. The Bruins ended the first round of play
with a 6-under par score of 349 and managed to put together an even
more impressive second round, recording a 7-under par score of 348,
reaching a total of 697 after the first day of action. The team,
led by overall leader Daniel Im, holds a lead over Washington
heading into today’s action.

WOMEN’S GOLF: Through the
first day of the Pac-10 Tournament, the women’s
golf team has kept up with some of the top teams in the country and
is in position to make a run at the championship over the next two
days. The nationally ranked No. 2 Bruins ended the first 18 holes
at 3-over par, only four strokes behind the leader, No. 3 ASU, and
two strokes ahead of No. 6 USC. Freshman Tiffany Joh led the team
with a 1-under par 71, tying for third overall among all golfers.
She had a shot at the lead but triple-bogeyed the last hole. The
Bruins have won the conference two years in a row and have two of
the nation’s top 10 golfers —
Jane Park and Joh — on their squad.

Compiled by Andrew Finley and Ajaybir Behniwal, Bruin Sports
senior staff and Jason Feder, Bruin Sports contributor.