Senior Tobias Clemens wins bid to ITA National
Indoors
The men’s tennis final had to be moved to Pepperdine
because of poor air quality, but that did not stop Bruin senior
Tobias Clemens from winning the ITA West Regionals
singles title.
Seeded No. 1, Clemens registered a straight-set victory over
Ruben Torres of USC, 6-1, 6-3. Clemens dropped
only one set the entire tournament. This victory guarantees him a
bid to the ITA National Indoors, which will be held Nov. 6 to Nov.
9 at Michigan.
Junior Chis Lam lost to San Diego’s
Jason Pongsrikul, 6-2, 2-6, 1-0 (10-6), in the
consolation finals. Lam, the tournament’s No. 3 seed, was
placed in the consolation bracket after being upset in the first
round by USC’s Scott Patterson, 6-2, 1-6,
6-4.
WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL: Coach Andy
Banachowski wanted to see his team display powerful
hitting over the weekend, and for the most part he got exactly what
he wanted. The No. 9 Bruins (16-4, 8-3 Pac-10) swept Oregon State
on Friday, cruising past the Beavers 30-13, 30-20,
30-24.
UCLA pounded the ball early, hitting .361 and .340 in the first
two games, before faltering in the third game, when the team hit
only .102.
That effort was more than enough to beat the Beavers, however.
Oregon State (12-10, 2-8) never managed an effective attack against
the Bruin defense. Although the score was closest in the third
game, the Beavers actually had their worst offensive performance,
hitting only .038.
Juniors Heather Cullen and Brynn
Murphy paced UCLA with 23 combined kills on .321 hitting.
Senior middle blocker Cira Wright had nine kills
(.471) and only one error to go along with three aces.
The first game marked the fifth time this season the Bruins have
held an opponent to 15 or fewer points in a single game.
CROSS COUNTRY: In the last meet before the
Pac-10 Championships, the women’s “B” team tied
for first place at the Cal State Fullerton Invitational held in
Carbon Canyon Regional Park in Brea. UCLA, UCSB and Pepperdine all
ended up with 55 points.
The Bruins were led by Carolyn Shea, who placed
fifth overall, with a time of 18 minutes, 34 seconds. She was
followed by teammate Emily Haigh with a time of
18:40. The winner of the race, Julie Swail of Cal
Coast Tech College, ran the course in 18:34.
The men, who also ran their “B” team, did not
compete in the men’s team standings and only ran three
runners. This race was the last of the season for the three of
them.
Craig Hall led the Bruins with a personal best
time of 25:15, which secured him 13th place. Puneet
Mahan finished in 25th place with a time of 27:16, and
Nick Thornton followed in 26th place less than a
second later. The meet was won by Cal State San Marcos with 28
points.
This weekend, both teams head to Pullman, Washington, for the
Pac-10 Championships. The women are ranked No. 15 in the country
heading into the first of three consecutive critical meets.
Compiled by Rhianna Fischer-Ortiz, Bruin Sports
Contributor.