UC Irvine’s ‘Tank’ Just Isn’t Enough to Dispose of No. 2 USC in Tennis

The UC Irvine men’s tennis team didn’t accomplish everything Coach Greg Patton had hoped for in its week of battling Southern California’s collegiate tennis powers.

But even though the Anteaters--ranked sixth nationally--didn’t improve their team record, they did, indeed, knock off one of the big boys.

Wednesday, the Anteaters (17-5) lost to USC, ranked second in the nation, at USC, 5-2. The loss follows the team’s Saturday 7-2 loss to fourth-ranked Pepperdine.

But Irvine, playing without its top-ranked singles player, Mark Kaplan, who is sidelined with severe chest congestion, upset USC in the No. 1 singles.

Trevor Kronemann, usually Irvine’s No. 2 singles player and ranked 56th nationally, stepped into the top spot to take on USC’s Scott Melville, the fourth-ranked singles player in the nation.

“We didn’t have our scout slashing our way through the jungle,” Patton said. “So we brought out our bulldozer.”

Kronemann, a 6-foot 4-inch, 230-pound sophomore nicknamed “Tank” by his teammates, overpowered Melville in the first set, lost the second set, but came back to win an emotional tiebreaker in the third, 7-5, and won the match, 6-1, 1-6, 7-6.

“I was ready to play,” Kronemann said. “I needed something to rebound with from the loss (on Saturday) to Andrew Sznajder (of Pepperdine).”

Patton said: “I’ve always believed Trevor can beat anyone in the country once he puts it together.”

Irvine’s Richard Lubner had a slightly easier time with USC’s John Carras in the No. 2 match. Lubner beat Carras in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4. Lubner’s record is 18-3 in dual matches.

Two other singles matches were close enough almost to tip the balance of the meeting in Irvine’s favor.

Freshman Mike Briggs, from Corona del Mar High School, took USC’s Eric Amend to three sets in the No. 3 match, despite suffering from a strained back since the Pepperdine match. In the 3 1/2-hour match, Briggs battled back from 4-1 deficits in the second and third sets before losing, 7-6, 5-7, 7-6.

Irvine’s Shige Kanroji won the first set from Byron Black in the No. 4 match but dropped the next two, losing, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.

USC easily won the No. 5 and No. 6 singles matches, and when Murphy Jensen and Scott Brownsberger defeated Lubner and Chris Ewing in doubles, 6-1, 6-2, to clinch the Trojan victory, both sides agreed to forfeit the final two doubles matches.

“Right now we just want to stay healthy,” Patton said. “We have to look toward the NCAAs.”

But before that, Irvine must face Cal State Long Beach Saturday. Last year, the teams met four times, including a meeting in the NCAA quarterfinals, when Long Beach knocked off Irvine, 5-3.