Leach Concedes His Trojans Have Little Chance Against Georgia

With one player missing because of academic reasons and another out with an illness, USC Coach Dick Leach all but conceded today’s match with host Georgia in the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. men’s tennis tournament.

“I don’t think we have any chance at all,” said Leach, who broke his silence and spoke with reporters Friday. “I don’t know if we should be here. We don’t expect a lot against Georgia.”

The Trojans (17-12) have won just one match since Leach suspended All-American John Carras in early April for failing to attend class.

Friday, Leach said he did not expect sophomore Murphy Jensen to play because he has the flu. Jensen plays No. 1 doubles and shares time at No. 6 singles.

The teams have not met since 1987, when the host Bulldogs upset the then-unbeaten Trojans. Leach was so upset about the defeat and the hometown crowd that he vowed to have the site of the tournament changed from Henry Feild Stadium, where it is being held for the 13th consecutive year.

Leach, who is 0-4 against Georgia in NCAA play, spoke with reporters only after insisting that the 1987 tournament not be mentioned and that an NCAA representative be present.

Fourth-seeded UC Irvine will open today against the University of San Diego. The Toreros defeated Minnesota, 5-1, Friday. The Anteaters beat San Diego, 5-1, last month although the Toreros were without No. 1 player Jose Luis Noriega at the time.

“We haven’t beaten Irvine in five or six years,” San Diego Coach Ed Collins said. “But this would be a great time to do it. We played great (against Minnesota). I was definitely quite surprised. We hadn’t played a dual match in a month.”

Second-seeded UCLA will open against Utah, a 5-3 winner over West Virginia. Should the Bruins win, Coach Glenn Bassett will tie Furman’s Paul Scarpa as the winningest active coach in the country with 493 victories.

Top-seeded Stanford will meet Miami, a 5-1 winner over Mississippi.