UCLA
Tennessee (NCAA Quarterfinals)
UCLA Men's Tennis Drops NCAA Quarterfinal Match
May 21, 2000 | Men's Tennis
May 21, 2000
ATHENS, Ga. - The No. 2 seed UCLA Bruins dropped a 4-1 decision to No. 10 seed Tennessee in the NCAA Men's Tennis Championships quarterfinals hosted by the University of Georgia at Dan Magill Tennis Complex Sunday.
UCLA is now 6-2 all-time against the Vols and closes out the season with a 24-4 overall record. Tennessee, who improves its record to 22-5, advances to the NCAA semifinals Monday at noon Eastern time and will face Virginia Commonwealth, who edged past Illinois 4-3 Sunday.
Doubles play went the distance as Tennessse and UCLA split the first two matches before the Vols won the point after winning a close match in the No. 2 position. Tennessee grabbed the first doubles win when Andy Crews and Peter Handoyo, ranked No. 35 in the nation, defeated UCLA's duo of Travis Rettenmaier and Lassi Ketola 8-4 on court No. 3. UCLA's tandem of Jean-Noel Grinda and Jean-Julien Rojer, ranked No. 41, then bested the Vols' No. 52 team of Mark Fitzpatrick and Paul Podbury 8-6 in the top position. On court No. 2, UCLA's Jong-Min Lee and Chris Sands battled back from a 5-7 deficit to tie the score at 7-7 before Tennessee's Adam Carey and Mark Parsons, who are ranked No. 31 nationally, took control of the match, winning by a score of 9-7.
In the singles portion of the match, Tennessee dominated at the start, taking the first set in all but the No. 2 position. Sophomore All-American Peter Handoyo, tied for No. 56 in the nation, recorded Tennessee's only straight set victory when he sailed past Rojer, ranked No. 64 in the nation, 6-0, 6-1 on court No. 3. The remaining five matches went to three sets as UCLA fought hard to prolong the match. Freshman Erfan Djahangiri recorded UCLA's only win of the match when he defeated Tate Roberts 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 in the No. 5 position. The Vols pulled ahead 3-1 after Podbury, ranked No. 78, dispatched of Ketola 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 on court No. 4.
With courts Nos. 1, 2 and 6 still in action, UCLA fought hard for a comeback. In the top position, Lee, ranked No. 27, held off a Parsons match point to win a second-set tie-breaker 7-3. In the third set, Parsons, ranked No. 24, began to suffer leg cramps as Lee pushed on relentlessly. On court No. 2, Grinda, ranked No. 47, was the only Bruin to win the first set, 6-2, but dropped the second 6-4 before he and Carey, ranked No. 60, battled it out in the third. However, UCLA's hopes for a come-from-behind win disappeared once Fitzpatrick handed Sands a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 loss to clinch the win for the Vols.
UCLA, who won 13 of its last 15 matches, had not lost the doubles point since defeating California 6-1 on April 8. However, the Bruins were playing without their No. 1 doubles and No. 2 singles player, senior captain Brandon Kramer, who fractured his wrist three days prior to NCAA Regionals action.
"It was a good match," UCLA head coach Billy Martin said. "It was well-fought on both sides. We had our chances, especially in doubles. We hung in there. We didn't look good in singles at first, but we clawed our way back. The loss of Brandon Kramer hurt us in doubles and in our depth in singles, but we played a great team. Even if we were at full strength, they could have won. The better team won."
Sunday's match marked UCLA's 23rd NCAA quarterfinals appearance in the 24 years since the current team format was adopted in 1977 (1998 was the only year missed). During that span, UCLA has failed to reach the semifinals only eight times. The Bruins last fell in the quarterfinals in 1998, when eventual national champion Stanford defeated them 5-0.
Doubles--Tennessee wins the point 1 (41) J. Grinda / J. Rojer (UCLA) def. (52) M. Fitzpatrick / P. Podbury (UT) 8-6 2 (31) A. Carey / M. Parsons (UT) def. J. Lee / C. Sands (UCLA)9-7* 3 (35) A. Crews / P. Handoyo (UT) def. L. Ketola / T. Rettenmaier (UCLA)8-4Singles 1 (27) Jong Min Lee (UCLA) vs. (24) Mark Parsons (UT)2-6, 7-6(3), 4-2, susp. 2 (47) Jean-Noel Grinda (UCLA) vs. (60) Adam Carey (UT) 6-2, 4-6, 4-5, susp. 3 (t56) Peter Handoyo (UT) def. (64) Jean-Julien Rojer (UCLA) 6-0, 6-1 4 (78) Paul Podbury (UT) def. Lassi Ketola (UCLA)6-2, 4-6, 6-3 5 Erfan Djahangiri (UCLA) def. Tate Roberts (UT)3-6, 6-1, 6-0 6 Mark Fitzpatrick (UT) def. Chris Sands (UCLA)4-6, 6-4, 6-2*
Tennessee 4, UCLA 1
