UCLA Team Page
Ojai, Calif. - The top-seeded UCLA men's tennis team earned the right to play in the Pac-12 Championship match for the second year in a row on Friday, as the Bruins downed Stanford, 4-0 in a semifinal showdown at Libbey Park in downtown Ojai. UCLA (23-1) now awaits the winner of Friday's late match, featuring second-seeded USC and No. 4 Cal.
UCLA jumped on the Cardinal from the start, claiming the doubles point with a pair of dominating wins at court Nos. 2 and 3. After Dennis Mkrtchian and Clay Thompson downed Jamin Ball and Daniel Ho, 8-1 at the No. 3 spot, UCLA claimed the point when Alex Brigham and Karue Sell posted an 8-3 win over Maciek Romanowicz and Robert Stineman at court No. 2.
Already with a 1-0 lead, UCLA would go on to win the first set on five of six courts in singles action. First to finish was court No. 5, where Sell lost just one game in a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Ho. The Bruins then went ahead 3-0 following a 6-2, 6-4 victory by 18th-ranked Marcos Giron, who beat No. 117 Nolan Paige at court No. 2.
The clinching point for UCLA came at the No. 4 spot, where 116th-ranked Clay Thompson was a 6-2, 6-0 winner over Stineman.
UCLA's 4-0 win on Friday marked the Bruins' third win over Stanford this season.
Pac-12 Championships (Semifinals #1)
#1 UCLA 4, #41 Stanford 0
Apr 26, 2013 at Ojai, CA (Libbey Park)
Doubles
1. #34 Giron/Novikov (UCLA) vs. #53 Lin/Morrissey (STAN) 4-5, unfinished
2. Alex Brigham/Sell (UCLA) def. Romanowicz/Stineman (STAN) 8-3
3. Mkrtchian/Thompson (UCLA) def. Jamin Ball/Ho (STAN) 8-1
UCLA Wins Doubles Point
Singles
1. #25 Dennis Novikov (UCLA) vs. #46 John Morrissey (STAN) 6-4, 5-2, unfinished
2. #18 Marcos Giron (UCLA) def. #117 Nolan Paige (STAN) 6-2, 6-4
3. #75 Dennis Mkrtchian (UCLA) vs. Maciek Romanowicz (STAN) 6-3, 3-4, unfinished
4. #116 Clay Thompson (UCLA) def. Robert Stineman (STAN) 6-2, 6-0
5. Karue Sell (UCLA) def. Daniel Ho (STAN) 6-1, 6-0
6. Maxime Tabatruong (UCLA) vs. Denis Lin (STAN) 2-6, 6-3, unfinished
Match Notes
Stanford 12-11; National ranking #41
UCLA 23-1; National ranking #1
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (5,2,4)