| Men’s Tennis |
|---|
| Nebraska — 0 |
| UCLA — 6 |
As tennis season drags through its final month before championship play, it’s easy for teams to feel fatigued and loosen up amidst a long season.
In reality, staying focused and grinding through the final stretch can make or break a team.
No. 24 UCLA men’s tennis (11-3, 5-0 Big Ten) rolled past conference foe Nebraska (9-8, 1-5 Big Ten) in a 6-0 sweep on Sunday afternoon at Los Angeles Tennis Center. The Bruins cruised on the way to winning their sixth match in a row, including nine wins in their last ten matches.
UCLA won every set they played against the Huskers, with a dropped doubles set from redshirt junior Emon van Loben Sels and redshirt freshman Cassius Chinlund the only exception.
The pair of junior Andy Nguyen and senior Aadarsh Tripathi handled business in an opening 6-3 win, before Nebraska’s only set victory of the day tied the doubles contest at 1-1.
Left to battle for the doubles point, sophomore Rudy Quan and freshman Bengt Reinhard fought to a 6-6 tiebreaker point against Jeri Lassila and Joan Torres Espinosa. With both teams gathered around court three, Quan and Reinhard pulled through to secure the doubles point in a 7-4 tiebreaker win, handing UCLA an early 1-0 lead.
No. 119 Quan was quickly back on his feet to win the first singles match in a 6-2, 6-1 sweep. He was followed closely by Chinlund, Tripathi and Nguyen all prevailing in straight sets, establishing a 5-0 advantage that clinched the match for UCLA
Reinhard’s match against Shearer, in which he took the first set, was abandoned after the team outcome was decided.
No. 33 van Loben Sels faced the only real tension in the singles round after finding himself trailing Lassila 5-6 in their first set. The redshirt junior managed to tie the set at 6-6 before claiming the second Bruin tiebreaker of the game with a 7-5 win.
Van Loben Sels chose to play out his match and emerged victorious following a 6-3 win in his second set, adding a sixth and final point for UCLA.
The Bruins will look to keep the good times rolling when they travel to face Michigan on Friday March 27 at 3:00 p.m. PST.
