Leach Duo Leads USC to the Top Again : Tennis: Son of coach wins key three-set match to give Trojans their third NCAA title in last four years.

USC won its second consecutive NCAA men’s tennis championship Tuesday with a 4-3 victory over Stanford in the finals.

It was the Trojans’ third title in the last four years.

USC and Stanford came into the tournament ranked first and second, respectively, in the nation. USC had defeated the Cardinal the last two times they played, both times by 4-3 scores.

In each match, the teams split the singles matches after USC had won the doubles point.

The only change in Tuesday’s match was Jon Leach’s clinching 6-7, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Jeff Salzenstein of Stanford.

“It was like a Hollywood finish out there,” said USC coach Dick Leach. “You couldn’t ask for a better script than to watch your son play for a national championship.

“Jon has won two huge points for us the last two years at the NCAAs.”

Even though he had lost to Salzenstein in two previous matches and had dropped the first set Tuesday in a 6-7 tie-breaker, Jon Leach said he wasn’t nervous.

“I am not like Pete Sampras. Every shot I hit is not going to go in,” he said. “I just hit the ball knowing some will go in and some won’t.”

Salzenstein’s broken shoelace at break point in the third set also might have helped Leach by breaking Salzenstein’s concentration.

“It happened at a critical time of the match,” Salzenstein said.

“I thought to myself if I needed to ruin his rhythm, then I would stop,” Leach said. “That’s exactly what he (Salzenstein) did.”

But Salzenstein credits Leach’s backhand return in taking nine of the next 11 points.

Dick Gould, coach of Stanford, thought the key to the match may have been his No. 2 doubles team of Robert Devens and Salzenstein’s 9-7 loss.

Wayne Black and Brett Hansen captured singles matches for USC, and Chris Cocotos, Jim Thomas and Vimal Patel won for Stanford.

Black and Leach captured No. 1 doubles for USC, and Patel and Grant Elliot won No. 3 doubles for the Cardinal.

USC’s championship was the school’s 15th, tying the Trojans with UCLA for the most in the tournament’s history.