Jan. 26, 2013

LOS ANGELES - The UCLA men's tennis team moved within a match of qualifying for next month's USTA/ITA National Team Indoors on Saturday, downing Cal Poly, 4-0 in the opening match of ITA Kick-Off Weekend at the Los Angeles Tennis Center. The Bruins (2-0) will qualify for the Indoors with a win over BYU in the championship match. The Cougars beat South Florida, 4-0 in their first-round match on Saturday.

The championship match will be contested at the LATC on Monday at 3:15 p.m. School policy prevents BYU from competing on Sundays.

Bruin sophomore Marcos Giron and Cal Poly's Andre Dome squared off in the featured singles match of the afternoon at No. 1 singles. Giron, who was playing his first career match at the No. 1 spot for UCLA, is ranked No. 12 nationally in singles, while Dome owns a national singles ranking of No. 89. Giron lived up to his ranking, posting a 6-3, 6-4 victory to give the Bruins a 2-0 advantage in the dual match.

UCLA freshman Karue Sell was next off at court No. 6, dispatching of Naveen Beasley, 6-3, 6-3. That set the stage for sophomore Dennis Novikov to clinch it at court No. 2, where he beat Marco Comuzzo, 6-4, 6-4.

Prior to singles, UCLA notched a pair of wins in doubles to claim the one point awarded for doubles play, taking an 8-1 victory at court No. 3 followed by an 8-2 win at the No. 2 spot. Court No. 1 was suspended with the Bruins leading 7-4.

Although UCLA will not be in action tomorrow, Cal Poly will take on South Florida in a consolation match (not before 10:30 a.m.). Sunday's schedule is as follows:

9:00 a.m. - Washington vs. South Florida (Women's First Round resumes)
Not before 10:30 a.m. - Cal Poly vs. South Florida (Men's Consolation)
Not before 1:00 p.m. - UCLA vs. winner of Washington/USF (Women's Championship)
Not before 4:00 p.m. - San Diego vs. loser of Washington/USF (Women's Consolation)

Live Stats

ITA Kick-Off Weekend
#3 UCLA 4, #57 Cal Poly 0
Jan 26, 2013 at Los Angeles, CA (Los Angeles Tennis Center)