Cook Hardly at a Loss to Explain His Transfer to UCLA

Nobody could have convinced Jason Cook that he’d become a UCLA Bruin after his bitter loss last spring to UCLA’s Heath Montgomery in the NCAA Regional finals.

But it happened.

Cook, who lost in three sets to Montgomery--the outcome decided on a penalty point--has transferred to UCLA from New Mexico.

“UCLA’s a great school,” Cook said. “They’re No. 1 or 2 in the nation and they can do a lot for me. There’s a lot of pluses.”

The sophomore from Woodland Hills gave three reasons for the switch: New Mexico Coach Tim Cass left for Texas A&M; UCLA had scholarships available, and Bruin Coach Billy Martin liked what he saw in that regional final.

“He knew I was around, but this definitely raised his eyebrows,” said Cook, who was 34-16 as the No. 4 singles player for the Lobos.

“He saw how competitive I was.”

Transferring was not a case of “if you can’t beat them, join them,” Cook said.

“New Mexico was a great situation or me,” said Cook, the No. 2 ranked 18-year-old in Southern California in 1995.

“I got a lot of playing time there and I love the coach,” he said. “But he got a better offer from Texas A&M.; I was going to follow him there, but then UCLA showed some interest.”

However, Cook’s remain sore over his loss to UCLA at last spring’s regional finals.

The top-ranked Bruins were ahead, 3-2, as Cook and Montgomery, who had split their first two sets, entered the third set of their 3 1/2-hour match.

Montgomery had a 5-4 tiebreaker lead when Cook called a serve wide and was overruled for the third time by the umpire.

Montgomery was awarded the ace and a penalty point giving him the set and the match. UCLA went on to win the match 5-2.

According to NCAA rules, a point is assessed for each overrule after two warnings.

“It was ridiculous,” Cook said.

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Cook wasn’t the only local player to transfer after his freshman year of college.

Jason Weiss of Calabasas will transfer from Wisconsin to San Diego State.

“I definitely had a good time,” said Weiss, who was the City Section singles champion as a Taft High freshman. “But the coach didn’t have any respect. He didn’t care about the team and he did his own thing.”

After alternating at No. 2 and 3 singles, Weiss’ playing time dropped off, in part because of chronic back problems that have bothered him since his sophomore year of high school.

But he has trained hard this summer, often sparring with brother Nick Weiss, who recently finished third in the junior national 14-and-under championships.

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Pennsylvania will get a boost when former Harvard-Westlake standout Romy Mehlman transfers in from Illinois.

Mehlman, a sophomore, will join Julia Feldman, the 1995 City Section singles champion from Taft, on the Quakers’ squad. The two are friends and have competed against each other on the junior circuit level.

“She was looking for a different environment,” said Feldman, who helped the Quakers to a second-place finish in the Ivy League last year as a freshman. “She had to get up in the morning at six and she was practicing three hours a day and had outside stuff.

“I think it’s great for the team that she’s coming.”

Feldman had an outstanding freshman season at Pennsylvania. Playing No. 3 singles, she finished 23-11 and 7-0 in league play and made All-Ivy League in doubles after going 12-5 with Lara Afanassiev.

She also was nosed out for top freshman honors by Ivy Wong of Harvard.

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Other local players to watch this fall include Monique Allegre of Arizona and Ania Bleszynski of Stanford.

Allegre, a 1995 Camarillo High graduate, was 16-6 in singles and 14-8 in doubles while playing with four partners.

Playing mostly at No. 6 singles, she posted a 10-1 record in dual matches and is looking to move up the ladder as a sophomore.

Bleszynski, a 1994 Harvard-Westlake graduate, played No. 1 singles at Stanford.

She reached the NCAA semifinals in singles in doubles as a sophomore last spring, the highlight being a three-set victory over UCLA’s Kari Phebus in the quarterfinals.

Phebus, defending NCAA singles champion, beat Bleszynski in a tight match in the semifinals of the 1995 Pacific 10 Conference championships.

Bleszynski is just as serious about academics as she is tennis. In fact, she departed two weeks early from a six-week tour of lower-level professional tournaments to take a job in Stanford’s DNA sequencing lab.