Bruins Make a Sweeping Statement

UCLA Coach Billy Martin did not want a repeat of last year’s NCAA men’s tennis tournament, a five-hour-plus, first-round match against New Mexico.

There was no such problem Saturday afternoon against Northwestern at Los Angeles Tennis Center at UCLA. The host Bruins won the doubles point and then Eric Taino, Kevin Kim and Jason Cook won their singles matches in straight sets to clinch the match, 4-0.

“We feel the only way we can redeem ourselves from last year’s loss [in the final to Stanford] is to win it this year,” said Martin, whose team will play Duke in a quarterfinal match at 4 p.m. today at the Center.

“I still will think about [the loss] and get a little irked.”

Most of the other matches went to form with the exception of No. 5 Kentucky losing, 4-1, to No. 12 Texas. Texas won the doubles point and then recorded straight-set victories at Nos. 3-6 singles.

In the quarterfinals, Texas will play two-time defending champion Stanford, which won its first-round match against Harvard, 4-0.

Other first-round winners included Boise State and Mississippi. Boise State, making its first appearance in the tournament, defeated Auburn, 4-1.

“The final [point] was like when I asked my wife to marry me and it took her two years to say yes,” Boise State Coach Greg Patton said.

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Florida and Stanford will meet again today for the NCAA women’s championship.

Playing in temperatures in the upper 90s at Stanford, unbeaten Florida (31-0) beat Texas, 5-1, and Stanford defeated Duke, 5-1, in Saturday’s semifinals.

The victory against Texas (24-6) extended the Gators’ 62-match winning streak.

In the second semifinal, Stanford (29-1) clinched the match with the help of freshmen Lilia Osterloh, Anne Kremer and Teryn Ashley.

Florida beat Stanford, 5-2, for last year’s title.