UCLA
Texas A&M (Third Round)
Bruins Set for Aggies in Round of 16
May 17, 2017 | Men's Tennis
With its home regional in the books, the Bruins travel across the country to Athens, Ga. for the NCAA Round of 16. UCLA will take on No. 13 Texas A&M Thursday at 1:00 p.m., PT. Another SEC school, Georgia, plays host to the NCAA Championships and poses a potential quarterfinal opponent if both teams were to advance. The Bulldogs will face No. 4 USC Thursday (also at 1:00 p.m.). All action will take place at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex, between the lower Feild Courts and the upper McWhorter Courts. Live scoring and video streaming will be available here: http://www.georgiadogs.com/sports/m-tennis/spec-rel/vid-stream-ncaa.html. For the Championship Central page, click here: http://www.georgiadogs.com/sports/m-tennis/spec-rel/ncaa-2017.html.
UCLA vs. Texas A&M -- The Bruins hold an an all-time record of 5-0 against the Aggies. The teams most recently faced off last season, when No. 9 UCLA upset No. 3 Texas A&M (Feb. 13, 2016) at the ITA National Team Indoors in Charlottesville, Va. The Bruins ran off three straight singles victories, including the clincher by Gage Brymer on Court 2. The teams also have a history in the Round of 16, as UCLA defeated Texas A&M by a 4-1 score (May 22, 2004) to advance to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament. The Bruin journey would end with a final-round loss to Baylor.
Bruins at the NCAA Championships -- UCLA continued its remarkable streak of consecutive trips to the NCAA Championships when it extended the run to 41 this year. The Bruin program is the only one to reach the postseason every year since the team format was adopted in 1977. Under head coach Billy Martin, UCLA has reached the quarterfinal round or later in 21 of 23 seasons. The Bruins have won 16 NCAA Championships, with the most recent one coming in 2005.
UCLA Blanks NCAA Regional Foes -- The Bruins did not surrender a single point at its home regional (May 12-13), as they advanced to Athens with wins over Army West Point and No. 27 Ole Miss. The doubles team of Maxime Cressy and Ben Goldberg collected two wins over the weekend, including the clincher against Army West Point. Logan Staggs and No. 60 Martin Redlicki each posted a pair of singles wins, as Redlicki clinched the overall decision on both days with straight-set wins on Court 1.
Brymer Named Region's Top Senior -- Brymer has been named the ITA Southwest Region Senior Player of the Year, as announced by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association on Monday, May 15. The national award winners will be declared May 23. Brymer posted a 21-11 overall record in his final season at UCLA, including a 10-7 mark in dual-match play. The Irvine, Calif. (University HS) native was recently selected to the NCAA Division I singles championship (May 24-29) in Athens, Ga., but will be unable to participate following a successful upper-body medical procedure at Ronald Reagan Medical Center on Tuesday, May 9. He will also miss the team competition.
NCAA Singles, Doubles Draws -- With Brymer out, Redlicki (28-7, 21-3) will be the lone Bruin to participate in the NCAA Division I singles championships, to be conducted May 24-29 at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. The junior was given at at-large bid. Additionally, the team of Redlicki and Evan Zhu (18-3, 16-2) earned the Pac-12's automatic bid and will be seeded No. 2 in the doubles championships, to take place at the same time.
Player of the Week Awards -- For his efforts in the Pac-12-regular-season-clinching win over USC (April 21), as well as his singles win against Cal Lutheran, Redlicki was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week on Monday, April 24. In addition to his clinching win over Crystal in singles, the junior joined Zhu in upsetting No. 10 duo Brandon Holt and Riley Smith on Court 1 in doubles. The honor marked Redlicki's Pac-12-best third of the season. He now has six for his career. It also completed the regular season with a Pac-12-best five for UCLA. Brymer (Jan. 23) and Zhu (April 10), also each earned a POW nod on the season. The Bruins have 35 in their program history.
Staggs Starring -- Staggs, a junior out of Tracy, Calif., has won 14 singles matches in a row and is a combined 15-0 on the year on Courts 3 and 4. Overall, Staggs owns an 21-4 record (19-2 in dual-match play). Over a period during late March and early April, he posted the clinching point in three of four matches, including a dramatic 7-6 (3), 6-7 (5), 6-4 win over Jayson Amos of Oregon on April 1. The win marked the closest call of regular-season conference play for the Bruins, who edged out the Ducks, 4-3. Staggs has posted six clinching singles points on the season, as well as a double-clinching victory alongside Brymer (Jan. 28 against New Mexico).
Home Cooking -- The Bruins' latest home win completed their home season with a 16-0 mark. Over the course of that streak UCLA has outscored opponents 67-13. The Bruins also held an unblemished home mark in 2015-16, as they won all 11 of their matches. Dating back to the 2014-15 season, the Bruins have won 28 consecutive home contests at Los Angeles Tennis Center and Sunset Courts.
Professional Bruins -- Bruin tennis alums Marcos Giron and Mackenzie McDonald recently made news with their runs to the semifinals of the USTA Men's Pro Tennis Championships of Calabasas (March 21-26). Top-seeded McDonald won three matches before he fell to No. 4 and eventual champion Sebastian Fanselow of Germany in a walkover. Giron, meanwhile, also won three matches, including an upset over third-seeded American Tommy Paul, 7-5, 6-3. It capped a successful month of March for McDonald, who was honored on March 17 as part of the inaugural Oracle US Tennis Awards in a ceremony at the BNP Paribas Open. The honor includes a $100,000 grant intended to assist McDonald as he transitions from college into the professional ranks.
Head Coach Billy Martin -- Head coach Billy Martin is currently in his 24th season as head coach of the Bruins, and 34th on the staff. During his tenure, Martin's teams have accumulated a dozen conference championships and the 2005 NCAA title. Just two of Martin's teams have finished outside of the top five teams at the season-ending NCAA Championships. They have also not finished outside of the top three teams in the Pac-12 standings. He has earned Pac-12 Coach of the Year honors four times (1996, 2012-14) and the ITA National Coach of the Year award once (1996). Martin has also led three players (Benjamin Kohlloeffel in 2006, Marcos Giron in 2014 and Mackenzie McDonald in 2016) to the NCAA Singles Championship and two teams (J. Gimelstob/S. Muskatirovic in 1996 and M. McDonald/M. Redlicki in 2016) to the NCAA Doubles crown. An ITA Tennis Hall of Famer, Martin was named the "Junior Player of the Century" by Inside Tennis Magazine. Before turning pro, he played one season at UCLA (1975), during which the Bruins captured an NCAA team championship. He also won the NCAA Singles Championship. Heading into the NCAA Championships, Martin holds an overall record of 545-116 (.825) overall and a 149-27 (.847) mark in Pac-12 play.
Players Mentioned
