March 4, 1998

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- The No. 2 ranked UCLA men's tennis team avenged an earlier upset loss at 10th ranked cross-town rival USC with a 5-2 victory today at the Los Angeles Tennis Center. With the victory UCLA improved to 9-3 overall and 3-1 in Pac-10 Conference action, while USC fell to 10-2 overall and 3-1 in league play.

This always intense rivalry resulted in another tight match, with four singles matches going three sets and the teams splitting doubles action. Although USC claimed the first doubles match off the court as Roman Kukal and Fernando Samayoa defeated Vince Allegre and Chris Sands , 8-4, on court No. 3, UCLA rallied to win the doubles point. The Bruins' team of Alex Decret and Noah Newman won 8-5 over Patrick Gottesleben and Akram Zaman on court No. 2. In the top doubles slot, UCLA's Matt Breen and Jean-Noel Grinda defeated the No. 48 ranked team of George Bastl and Kyle Spencer to earn the doubles point for the Bruins.

UCLA proceeded to claim the first three singles matches to finish, but USC won the fourth with the remaining matches already into third sets. The clinching match was decided on court No. 2 where UCLA's Vince Allegre posted an exciting 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 win over USC's Patrick Gottesleben. Finishing only moments later, UCLA's Alex Decret defeated USC's Roman Kukal 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 on court No. 4 to avenge his personal loss at USC earlier this season.

Key wins were turned in for UCLA in the Nos. 3 and 6 positions today. Playing in his first match against USC, freshman Noah Newman was the first singles match off the court as he claimed a 6-2, 6-4 win over Akram Zaman at No. 6. In the No. 3 slot, UCLA's Matt Breen rallied from a 2-6 loss in the first set to post a 6-3, 6-4 win in the second and third over Kyle Spencer.

USC's victories came at Nos. 5 and 1 singles. On court No. 5 Samayo rallied to claim the first set 7-6 over Chris Sands, then won 6-2 in the second. The No. 1 singles match was intense as USC's No. 23 ranked Bastl won the first set 6-1, but UCLA's No. 12 ranked Jean-Noel Grinda rallied to claim the second 6-3. The third set went into a tiebreaker, with Bastl allowing just one point to claim the match, 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(1).

The Bruins will send a contingent of players to compete in the Pacific Coast Doubles Tournament this weekend in La Jolle. UCLA returns to dual match action at home on Mar. 11 when the Bruins play host to Wisconsin in a 1:30 p.m. match at the Los Angles Tennis Center. Admission to all of UCLA's home tennis matches is free.

Here are today's position-by-position results:

Doubles -- (UCLA wins point)
No. 1   Matt Breen / Jean-Noel Grinda (UCLA) def. George Bastl / Kyle Spencer (USC) 8-6
No. 2   Alex Decret / Noah Newman (UCLA) def. Patrick Gottesleben / Akram Zaman (USC)   8-5
No. 3   Roman Kukal / Fernando Samayoa (USC) def. Vince Allegre / Chris Sands (UCLA)    8-4

Singles
No. 1   George Bastl (USC) def. Jean-Noel Grinda (UCLA) 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(1)
No. 2   Vince Allegre (UCLA) def. Patrick Gottesleben (USC) 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
No. 3   Matt Breen (UCLA) def. Kyle Spencer (USC)   2-6, 6-3, 6-4
No. 4   Alex Decret (UCLA) def. Roman Kukal (USC)   6-3, 3-6, 6-2
No. 5   Fernando Samayoa (USC) def. Chris Sands (UCLA)  7-6, 6-2
No. 6   Noah Newman (UCLA) def. Akram Zaman (USC)   6-2, 6-4
Final Team Score: UCLA 5, USC 2