Men’s tennis defeats Cal, falls to top-ranked USC during ITA Kickoff Weekend

After nearly a year of not competing, the Bruins matched up against the best team in the nation – also their crosstown rivals – in just their second game back in action.

Following a 4-0 sweep of California (2-1), No. 18 UCLA men’s tennis (1-1) went on to face No. 1 USC (2-0). UCLA lost 4-1 in the final game to finish second place in its bracket of the ITA Kickoff tournament.

“It was super exciting to be back out there, especially against such great competition,” said redshirt senior Ben Goldberg. “There was no time to really ease in. This was our first test and it was right away against the top team in the country.”

The Bruins struck first in the championship against their rivals. After both Los Angeles teams won a doubles matchup apiece, the first point of the contest rested in the hands of Goldberg and junior Mathew Tsolakyan as they matched up against USC’s doubles pair of Stefan Dostanic and Ryder Jackson. With the other games finished, the rest of the rosters were cheering from the sidelines as it was game point for the blue and gold.

After a rally that included nine volleys, UCLA secured the final set to attain the first point of the match, giving it a 1-0 lead.

“That was such a great thrill,” Goldberg said. “From the very first point we had great chemistry and talked to each other between every point. We really came together as one. The emotions were running so high. The doubles came down to us, that was a great adrenaline rush.”

Despite the Trojans’ winning the next four singles matches to acquire the 4-1 victory, UCLA coach Billy Martin said he walked away with high spirits and high hopes for his team.

“I think we showed them we can compete with them,” Martin said. “It’s still so early. Just keep working hard, and we’ll get multiple chances to avenge this loss. This is just one team that we possibly have to defeat if we want to fight for a national championship, which I think we are capable of doing at the end of the year.”

The tournament’s timing was thrown off because of the rain in Southern California. It began coming down in the middle of the doubles matches against Cal, causing a postponement of the game until later in the day. This caused the whole tournament to be pushed back a day because USC couldn’t face off against UNLV until Sunday, hence the championship game being played out Monday.

“It’s just a part of tennis unfortunately playing outdoors like we do in California,” Martin said. “If we have a stretch of bad weather, you do what you have to do. We were excited to play. After such a long hiatus, I don’t think anything would’ve deterred us from being ready and prepared whether we had to come and go 20 times.”

Despite the team loss, junior Roscoe Bellamy didn’t lose a match. Against Cal, Bellamy defeated No. 97 Philip Hjorth by scores of 6-1 and 6-0. Bellamy and fellow junior Max Wild then took down USC’s Bradley Frye and Colter Smith in doubles play by a score of 6-4.

Bellamy said it was nice to get back out on the court after such a long offseason, regardless of the opponent.

“It felt great being out there,” Bellamy said. “I love being out there for the guys on my team. It really feels like we’re all out there fighting together, but just the competitiveness kind of feeling is what I missed. I’ve been training really hard during this offseason. I guess I really wanted to do well. I wanted to duel. That’s the bottom line.”

UCLA’s next match will be in Westwood against Boise State on Feb. 4.