Resurgent Senior Leads Cal's Rout of Rebels

It's always nice to have your best player back in the line up-especially if that player is going to help your team win.

The Cal men's tennis team welcomed back senior Pierre Mouillon yesterday as it manhandled UNLV 7-0 at Hellman Tennis Center.

Mouillon, who had missed the past three matches, sparkled in his return defeating the Rebels' Luca Barlocchi 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 on court two.

"It feels good to be back playing alongside my teammates," Mouillon said. "I started terrible, but I just found a way to relax and get some good shots."

After losing his first set, Mouillon went on a tear, breaking his opponent early and speeding to a 5-0 second-set lead. A couple of unforced errors by Barlocchi led to a 6-1 finish.

In the decisive third set the senior used a massive overhand smash to go up 2-1. The lead was extended to 3-1 after Barlocchi could not keep a shot in, leading him to scream in disgust. More quality play by Mouillon helped him finish it off 6-2.

"He played very well. We need all of our guys to be successful and Pierre is one of those guys," coach Peter Wright said. "It was exciting to have him back in the lineup and performing at a level that he feels good about and we feel good about."

Mouillon has been struggling this season, posting a 6-11 singles record so far, relatively unimpressive for a player that went 28-16 his junior year. It is this poor play that attributed to Mouillon missing the three matches.

"I haven't been playing great obviously," Mouillon said. "I had a great year last year (being) ranked in the top 20 so coach expects a lot from me. I am a senior and have not been a good example."

Mouillon said that he needed time off to think and really reassess his performance this season.

The brief break seemed to have helped as the senior looked like a player that was once ranked No. 14 in the nation.

With the victory over the Rebels, Cal (8-6) has won four out of its last five matches. Three of those wins have come in the form of a shutout.

"We are playing well together as a team," Wright said. "You can see that on all the courts (as) everyone is pulling together. When you win 7-0 that is a group effort."

Freshman Jonathan Dahan had the match clincher, a 6-1, 6-2 win over Bryan Miller. Dahan has now won seven singles matches in a row, bringing his season total to 16.

The Bears also won the doubles point against UNLV (6-8), their fourth straight. Cal was led by junior Geoff Chizever and Pedro Zerbini, who beat Barlocchi and Elliot Wronski 8-1.

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