UCLA
UC Santa Barbara
Men's Tennis Defeats UC Santa Barbara, 6-1
March 29, 2000 | Men's Tennis
March 29, 2000
LOS ANGELES - Despite playing without its top singles and doubles player, the No. 1 UCLA men's tennis team cruised to a 6-1 victory over UC Santa Barbara Wednesday at the Los Angeles Tennis Center. With the win, UCLA improves to 15-2 overall, while the Gauchos fall to 4-9.
Senior All-American Jong-Min Lee suffered minor back spasms during Wednesday's pre-game warm-up and therefore did not compete in the match as a precautionary measure. As a result, head coach Billy Martin moved up each of his players in the singles lineup and teamed Brandon Kramer, Lee's usual partner, with Chris Sands in doubles.
Despite the last-minute adjustments, UCLA got the match started on the right track by sweeping doubles play to claim the first point of the afternoon. Court No. 3 finished first, as UCLA's duo of Lassi Ketola and Travis Rettenmaier came from behind to beat J.J. Stewart and Mike Rodrigues, 8-6. Soon after, the UCLA tandem of Kramer and Sands sailed to an 8-2 win over the Gauchos' team of Mike Ortiz and Sandy Gentile on court No. 2. In the top position, the UCLA duo of Jean-Noel Grinda and Jean-Julien Rojer eventually prevailed over UC Santa Barbara's Simon Shen and Marcin Kosakowski, 9-7.
In singles action, the backcourts clinched the victory for the Bruins when UCLA secured three straight set wins and extended the lead to 4-0. UCLA freshman Erfan Djahangiri, ranked No. 94 in the latest ITA poll, finished first when he topped UC Santa Barbara's Anthony Pepe 6-1, 6-1 in the No. 5 position. Ketola was next to finish, defeating Ortiz 6-0, 6-2 on court No. 4. In the No. 6 position, Sands handed Gentile a 6-2, 6-3 loss.
In the frontcourts, Grinda finished first, downing Kosakowski 6-1, 6-2 on court No. 2. In the No. 3 position, Rojer rallied to top Stewart 7-6, 6-3, pulling the Bruins ahead 5-0. UCLA was headed towards a sweep, but Shen, ranked No. 52 in singles, would not relent, grabbing a 6-2, 7-5 win over Kramer, who is ranked 36th nationally.
UCLA will be in action again later this week when they travel across town to battle Pac-10 rival USC on Friday, March 31 at 1:30 pm. UCLA defeated USC 5-2 at home earlier this season and will be looking to sweep regular-season play against the No. 19 Trojans.
Doubles
UCLA wins point
No. 1 Jean-Noel Grinda / Jean-Julien Rojer (UCLA) def. Simon Shen / Marcin
Kosakowski (UCSB) 9-7
No. 2 Brandon Kramer / Chris Sands (UCLA) def. Mike Ortiz / Sandy Gentile
(UCSB) 8-2
No. 3 Lassi Ketola / Travis Rettenmaier (UCLA) def. J.J. Stewart / Mike
Rodrigues (UCSB) 8-6
Singles
No. 1 (52) Simon Shen def. (36) Brandon Kramer (UCLA) 6-2, 7-5
No. 2 Jean-Noel Grinda (UCLA) def. Marcin Kosakowski (UCSB) 6-1, 6-2
No. 3 (78) Jean-Julien Rojer (UCLA) def. J.J. Stewart (UCSB) 7-6, 6-3
No. 4 Lassi Ketola (UCLA) def. Mike Ortiz (UCSB) 6-0, 6-2
No. 5 (94) Erfan Djahangiri (UCLA) def. Anthony Pepe (UCSB) 6-1, 6-1
No. 6 Chris Sands (UCLA) def. Sandy Gentile (UCSB) 6-2, 6-3
Final Team Score: UCLA 6, UC Santa Barbara 1
