COLLEGE TENNIS AT OJAI : UC Irvine, Fresno Tied for Big West Lead

The first day of the Big West Conference men’s tennis tournament was history Friday at the Ojai Valley Racquet Club.

UC Irvine, the three-time defending champion, was tied with Fresno State for the lead with 25 points.

Today, Trevor Kronemann of Irvine will face Marcos Garzo of Fresno State in a battle of No. 1 singles players that Irvine Coach Greg Patton, never prone to understatements, described thusly:

“It’s like one of those Japanese monster movies--Mothra vs. Godzilla.”

And, having made some sense of peace before the battle, Patton was off to dinner with Fresno Coach Brad Stine.

Patton and Stine are the best of friends. Patton will be the best man at Stine’s wedding in June.

Nevada Las Vegas finished the first day of the three-day tournament in third place with 23 points. Cal State Long Beach is fourth with 21.

The first day was marked by two upsets.

Igor Vuletic of the University of the Pacific defeated top-seeded David Decret of UC Santa Barbara, 7-6, 6-3, at No. 1 singles.

And Mike Chinchiolo and Toby McElravey of San Jose State beat Irvine’s top-seeded team of Kronemann and Richard Lubner at No. 1 doubles.

Unlike the men, who play head-to-head in singles and doubles flights, the women play team-against-team dual matches.

Friday, the Irvine women’s team lost to San Diego State, the four-time defending champion, 5-1, in the semifinals.

Stacey Cadigan’s 6-3, 6-1 victory over Taunya Johnson at No. 1 singles was the Anteaters’ only victory.