No. 17 Men's Tennis Handles UNLV, 6-1
LOS ANGELES – The No. 17 UCLA men's tennis team dropped just two sets en route to a 6-1 defeat of UNLV Tuesday at Los Angeles Tennis Center.
The Bruins (4-2) were led by their backcourt players, as each was victorious without surrendering more than two games in a set. Roscoe Bellamy clinched the overall win, following the efforts of newcomers Stefan Leustian and Sam Feit. The Rebels (3-6) got their lone point from Jordan Sauer.
UCLA's tandems on Courts 1 and 2 jumped out to 3-0 advantages to start doubles play and received little pushback the rest of the way. Feit and Drew Bairdt got back in the win column on Court 2, surrendering just one game to Jackson Atherton and Anton Ornberg for their third win in four decisions. Then, on the top court, Keegan Smith and Max Wild debuted as a partnership by defeating Clayton Alenik and Eric Samuelsson, 6-3.
The match on Court 3 was also completed, as Bryce Pereira and Connor Rapp were forced into a tiebreaker by Milos Dabic and Jordan Sauer before eking out a 10-8 victory.
The Bruins swept the singles first sets. Freshman Leustian could not have done any better in his dual-match debut, cruising to a 6-0, 6-0 performance against Atherton.
The back-court dominoes continued to fall, as No. 109 Feit posted a 6-2, 6-1 defeat of Ornberg on Court 4 to even his season mark at 3-3. Roscoe Bellamy was right on Feit's heels and ultimately got the honor of securing the fourth point with a 6-2, 6-2 showing versus Alenik on Court 5.
With the match decided, it was up to the top courts to determine the final margin. No. 10 Smith rallied from a 2-5 first-set deficit to overcome Samuelsson, 7-5, 6-4, and secure the fifth point. Ben Goldberg would not let his match reach a third set on Court 3, where he controlled a second-set tiebreaker to dispatch of Dabic, 6-3, 7-6(3). Finally, Baird was unable to limit his contest on Court 2 to two sets, as Sauer captured a pair of tiebreakers to ensure UNLV would leave with a win, 4-6, 7-6(3), 7-6(2).
UCLA returns to action Wednesday, March 10, when Pepperdine visits LATC. First serve is scheduled for 2 p.m., PT.
Tennis Match Results
UNLV vs UCLA
3/2/2021 at Los Angeles, CA
(Los Angeles Tennis Center)
#17 UCLA 6, UNLV 1
Singles competition
1. #10 Keegan Smith (UCLA) def. Eric Samuelsson (UNLV) 7-5, 6-4
2. Jordan Sauer (UNLV) def. Drew Baird (UCLA) 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-2)
3. Ben Goldberg (UCLA) def. Milos Dabic (UNLV) 6-3, 7-6 (7-3)
4. #109 Sam Feit (UCLA) def. Anton Ornberg (UNLV) 6-2 6-1
5. Roscoe Bellamy (UCLA) def. Clayton Alenik (UNLV) 6-2, 6-2
6. Stefan Leustian (UCLA) def. Jackson Atherton (UNLV) 6-0, 6-0
Doubles competition
1. Keegan Smith/Max Wild (UCLA) def. Clayton Alenik/Eric Samuelsson (UNLV) 6-3
2. Drew Baird/Sam Feit (UCLA) def. Jackson Atherton/Anton Ornberg (UNLV) 6-1
3. Bryce Pereira/Connor Rapp (UCLA) def. Milos Dabic/Jordan Sauer (UNLV) 7-6 (10-8)
Match Notes:
UNLV 3-6
UCLA 4-2; National ranking #17
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (6,4,5,1,3,2)