M. tennis: No. 4 men’s tennis faces off against archrival No. 11 USC

David Regan
Published: Tuesday, March 1, 2005

At one time this was supposed to be the first in a long streak of tough matches. Now it looks like it’s going to be the last.

The fourth-ranked UCLA men’s tennis team (12-1) visits crosstown rival USC today in a match that was initially supposed to be played Feb. 11, but was postponed due to rain. This time they’ll do it for real.

“I don’t want to get overconfident,” UCLA coach Billy Martin said. “We’ve got a tough one Tuesday. You know they’re going to be wanting to inflict pain upon the Bruins.”

The first time these teams were supposed to meet was immediately before the National Team Indoors. It was supposed to be a chance for UCLA to gauge where it stood before heading to Chicago to face the nation’s best.

As it happened, the Indoors ended up acting as a barometer for both teams. UCLA won two of three matches in Chicago, eventually falling to then-No. 9 Virginia. No. 11 USC (5-5), meanwhile, lost two of three at the Indoors, and has since lost to Stanford at home.

It would appear that the teams are headed in opposite directions, with the Bruins working themselves into form, especially after a dominating 7-0 performance against Cal on Saturday, and the Trojans struggling for consistency.

But when these teams get together, anything can happen.

“They have a good team, so it will be a good test for us,” senior Chris Lam said. “And it’s always good to take them down.”

UCLA and USC split the season series last year, with each team winning at home. That adds some extra incentive for the Bruins to secure a victory at the Marks Tennis Stadium.

For the Bruins to have success today, they’ll simply have to keep up the momentum they built against Cal. That starts with Benjamin Kohlloeffel, who has been absolutely brilliant in the team’s last few matches.

“He’s just been the Rock of Gibraltar for our team, really, at a high position like that,” Martin said.

Kohlloeffel hasn’t lost a match in the dual-match season, and he is coming off straight set victories against Stanford and Cal in which he surrendered only five total games.

“I’ve played really well,” Kohlloeffel said. “I didn’t play really big, but I just didn’t miss.”

Also in impressive form for UCLA is Kris Kwinta, who, like Kohlloeffel, hasn’t lost in the dual-match season. He won all three of his matches at the Indoors, and was recently moved up to No. 3 in the lineup.

Luben Pampoulov will also be in the lineup today for the Bruins, even though he has been suffering with a pinched nerve in his neck. Despite the pain, Pampoulov is excited to play.

“We’re always excited to play USC,” he said. “Hopefully we can keep the momentum.”

And in the end, you can throw out records and throw out the history, because it comes back to the same unavoidable fact.

“It’s the Trojans,” Martin said. “It’s always great.”