Saturday, April 23, 2016

UCLA Punches Ticket to Pac-12 Final

OJAI, Calif. (April 22nd, 2016) – For the third-time this season, the UCLA men’s tennis team rallied to defeat Stanford after dropping the doubles point.  With the 4-1 win, the first-seeded Bruins advance to the title match of the Pac-12 Men’s Tennis Championships, where they will face either No. 2 seed USC or No. 3 seed Cal.

“We’re very pleased to get another solid win over a really good Stanford team,” said UCLA head coach Billy Martin.  “I’m disappointed with the doubles outcome, as it’s our third straight time losing the point to them.  They are a good doubles team, but I was hoping we could see some improvement there.

“Our guys took the doubles defeat well and put it behind them,” said Martin.  “This was as good a
match as we’ve had all year as far as everybody looking really focused from the start, winning all six first sets in singles.  We really took charge and sent a message to Stanford that dropping doubles didn’t bother us.  I was really happy with our resilience.”

Fourth-seeded Stanford made quick work of UCLA in doubles play, clinching the point on courts 1 and 2.  At the top of the lineup, No. 39 Tom Fawcett and Maciek Romanowicz downed the fifth-ranked pair of Mackenzie McDonald and Martin Redlicki, 6-2.  The remaining matches were both knotted at 5-5.  On court 2, Joseph Di Giulio and Karue Sell dropped one to trail 6-5, while Maxime Cressy and Austin Rapp pulled ahead 6-5 on court 3.  The Cardinal took a 1-0 lead when David Wilczynski and Nolan Paige broke Sell and Di Giulio to win the set, 7-5.

True to form, the Bruins dictated the pace in singles and swept the first sets.  No. 92 Sell struck first on court 4 to put UCLA on the board.  His straight-set victory over Paige marked his 100th career singles win and evened the score at 1-1.
“We’re very excited for him,” said Martin of Sell’s accomplishment.  “He’s done an incredible job for us the past four years.  I’d be surprised if there are many guys that have a better dual match record than Karue.  He has really been a rock for us throughout the years.  He’ll be a tough one to lose next year, so I hope we can send him out with a conference tournament title and an NCAA title.”

At the bottom of the lineup, Di Giulio gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead when he dispatched Sameer Kumar in straights.  Tenth-ranked McDonald followed suit on court 1 to inch UCLA closer to victory.  Ahead 5-3 in the second set, McDonald broke No. 12 Fawcett to win the match and give the Bruins a 3-1 lead.

With three matches still playing, the clincher came from court 3.  After taking the first set, 6-2, No. 55 Gage Brymer owned a 5-4 lead in the second.  Serving for the match, Brymer held to punch the Bruins’ ticket to Saturday’s final.         
“We’re very excited to advance—it’s one of our four major goals every year,” said Martin.  “We want to go undefeated at home, win Pac-12 regular season, win the conference tournament, and then the NCAA Championships.  Tomorrow we have a chance to attain the third of our four goals.

“We’re going to be up for whoever we play,” added Martin of facing either USC or Cal in the title match.  “They’re both really good teams—there’s no doubt about it.  We know how good USC is, and we played Cal without one of its better players.  If they beat USC today, they’ll be a better team than the one we beat at home this season.  Either way, we’re going to have to play very well tomorrow.”
Next up, UCLA faces either USC or Cal in the championship match on Saturday at 6 pm PDT. The match will be televised live on Pac-12 Networks.  For live scoring and results, click here.

#2 UCLA 4, #32 Stanford 1
Apr 22, 2016 at Ojai, Calif. (Libbey Park) 
Doubles competition
1. #39 Fawcett/Romanowicz (STAN) def. #5 McDonald/Redlicki (UCLA) 6-2
2. Wilczynski/Paige (STAN) def. Di Giulio/Sell (UCLA) 7-5
3. Cressy/Rapp (UCLA) vs. Kumar/Goldberg (STAN) 6-5, unfinished
Singles competition
1. #10 Mackenzie McDonald (UCLA) def. #12 Tom Fawcett (STAN) 6-4, 6-3
2. #42 Martin Redlicki (UCLA) vs. Michael Genender (STAN) 7-5, 4-3, unfinished
3. #55 Gage Brymer (UCLA) def. #77 David Wilczynski (STAN) 6-2, 6-4
4. #92 Karue Sell (UCLA) def. Nolan Paige (STAN) 6-2, 6-2
5. Logan Staggs (UCLA) vs. Maciek Romanowicz (STAN) 6-3, 3-6, 1-0, unfinished
6. Joseph Di Giulio (UCLA) def. Sameer Kumar (STAN) 6-3, 6-1
Match Notes
Stanford 14-10; National ranking #32
UCLA 21-2; National ranking #2
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (4,6,1,3)
Pac-12 Championship Semifinals
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