Sports Briefs: Men's Tennis Trounces Utes As It Preps for L.A. Schools

While Utah is not in the same league as the tennis powerhouses down in Southern California, the No. 30 Cal men tennis team's 6-1 win yesterday provided the team with the boost it needed as it heads into upcoming matches against USC and UCLA.

"It was really good for us to get back on track a little bit," Cal coach Peter Wright said. "We played well today on every single court. Everyone was pretty focused on what they had to do."

With Scott Kintz sitting out nursing a shoulder injury, the Bears (9-5, 1-2 in the Pac-10) shuffled their fail proof doubles lineup, and even with the change, Cal's doubles proved to be unbeatable.

The sophomore tandem of Robert Kowalczyk and John Paul Fruttero moved up to the No. 1 spot, where they made quick work of the Utes' Nik Yip and David Mercier with a 8-5 win. Ben Miles and Balazs Veress clinched the doubles point for the Bears.

At No. 3, seniors Erik Dmytruk-who replaced Kintz in the lineup-and Adrian Barnes made it a clean sweep by pulling out a win in the tiebreak.

Miles led the charge for the Bears in singles play, taking a little less than an hour to turn in a 6-2, 6-0 victory at the No. 6 spot. Veress, Fruttero, Wayne Wong, and Kowalczyk followed his lead and made it a quick afternoon with straight-set victories.

With the Bears looking for a shutout, Utah's Yip sent the match on the No. 4 court to a third set by beating Dmytruk in the second-set tiebreak. While the Cal senior battled back from an early third-set deficit, Yip ultimately prevailed, 7-6(8), to save the sweep.

Men's Golf Winds Up Fifth

in Santa Cruz

The Cal men's golf team followed up last week's third-place finish with a fifth-place showing at the 55th annual Western Intercollegiate in Santa Cruz, Calif., yesterday.

Oregon ran away from the field at Pasatiempo Golf Course, winning the 54-hole tournament with a 10-over par 850. Washington finished second with a 27-over 867, followed by Kansas and Pacific.

The Bears rounded out the top five, finishing one shot behind Pacific and 27 shots off the lead with a 37-over 877.

San Diego State's Lars Johansson beat out Pacific's Jason Higton in a playoff to take home medalist honors with a 4-under 206.

Walter Chun was Cal's top finisher, shooting a final-round 68 to finish in a 10th place tie with a 6-over 216.

Peter Tomasulo was in eighth place after two rounds, but shot a third-round 76 and slipped to a 17th place tie with an 8-over 218.

Dong Yi tied for 22nd with a 9-over 219 and J.R. Ruda tied for 48th with a 15-over 225. James Hahn rounded out the Bears' team, tying for 50th with a 16-over 226.

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