Doubles Team Provides an Element of Surprise

One does the dishes. The other drives.

One is an emotional flatliner on the tennis court. The other volleys his personality with adrenaline.

One is Swiss-born and reared in the Philippines. The other is a California-raised bounce-back from Ball State.

This is the somewhat odd couple of Thomas Bohun and Steve Tallakson, UC Irvine tennis players.

They have been roommates for 1 1/2 years and doubles partners for one red-hot month. They have upset UCLA’s Kevin Kim and Eric Lin, then ranked seventh nationally, and Purdue’s Cris James and Derek Myers, who were also ranked seventh.

The Tallakson-Bohun team won five of its first six matches and is 6-4.

“We were trying a couple different things in practice and they went out and beat the No. 7 doubles team in the nation,” Coach Steve Clark said. “How could I not keep them together?”

The two seem to complement each other.

Bohun, who was born in Switzerland but moved to the Philippines when his father was relocated, ended up at Irvine after soliciting several universities. Of those that responded, he picked the one that had the best tennis team.

His calming personality and steady play keep Tallakson on an even keel.

“With Thomas, you know what you’re going to get when you walk onto the court,” said Tallakson, a senior. “The guy is going to play hard and there will be no surprises.”

Tallakson was a top junior player in California but originally went to Ball State. He brings emotion, experience and a big serve to their game. His outbursts generally have a positive spin that fuel them both.

“He gets me very pumped up,” said Bohun, a sophomore. “If I get down after missing a shot, he’s there to get me going. And he has that huge serve that gets us off to a great start every match.”

After upsetting Kim and Lin, the two lost against California, then Bohun missed two matches because of an illness. They have been on a roll since he returned.

“It’s been difficult because he moves around a lot more than my old partner,” Tallakson said. “We’re still getting used to each other.”

Still, they didn’t start from scratch. The two have been working out most mornings since becoming roommates in August, 1995. At the time, Tallakson was teamed with Cameran Lindee--who also rooms with them--in doubles. They went 18-5 last season and were ranked 26th nationally entering the season.

But something wasn’t clicking this year and Clark decided to massage his lineup.

“We were struggling in the fall, so it was time to try some different combos,” Tallakson said.

Said Clark: “Playing doubles is like a marriage. You have to understand each other and have good chemistry. For whatever reason, they were struggling. Maybe someone didn’t clean the dishes.”

If so, it was Tallakson.

“Oh, we’re all about the same [when it comes to] keeping the place neat,” Tallakson said.

Said Bohun: “He never does the dishes. I’m the neat one.”

Still, there are trade-offs. If it wasn’t for Tallakson, Bohun would do a lot more walking. Tallakson chauffeurs Bohun, who doesn’t have a California driver’s license, to the court.

“He’s a senior, so I better get a license next year,” Bohun said.

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Skye Green broke her school records in the 400- and 100-meter hurdles Saturday in a three-way meet against Stanford and Oregon. Green won the 400 hurdles with a time of 58.67 seconds and finished second in the 100 hurdles in 14.16. Her time in the 400 was a provisional-qualifying time for the NCAA championships.

Popi Edwards won the 200 in 12.15.

The Irvine women’s team defends its title in the Big West Challenge Cup Saturday at Cal State Fullerton.

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Go West: Only a quick scan of the basketball coaching candidates was necessary to see which way the wind blows . . . west.

In recent years, the trend has been to hire East Coast coaches--Irvine’s Rod Baker (Seton Hall), Long Beach State’s Wayne Morgan (Syracuse), Loyola Marymont’s Joe Olive (Villanova). Irvine officials interviewed no one west of Utah.

Not only did all five candidates have California roots, four of them had Big West Conference experience. Ben Howland (UC Santa Barbara), Donnie Daniels (Cal State Fullerton), Joe Cravens (Irvine) and Bob Schermerhorn (Irvine) have been assistants in the conference.

The only one who hasn’t coached in the Big West was Pat Douglass, who got the job. Of course, none of the other candidates has won a national title.

pichar

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Todd Lee will be one of Douglass’ assistant coaches. Lee was an assistant to Douglass for three years at Cal State Bakersfield.

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Coming Attractions

Here is a look at key games for UC Irvine this week:

* The men’s and women’s track and field teams will compete against Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara in the Big West Challenge Cup Saturday at Fullerton. Field events begin at 12:15 p.m., running events at 1 p.m.

* Men’s golf will play in the Western Intercollegiate April 7-8 at the Pasatiempo in Santa Cruz.

* Men’s volleyball hosts Loyola Marymount at 7 p.m. Friday. Chris Harger had a school-record 54 kills against Pacific Thursday, the fourth most in an NCAA match.

* Women’s tennis hosts UC Santa Barbara, the defending Big West Conference champion, at 1:30 p.m. Friday.

* Men’s tennis hosts Oregon at 2 p.m. Monday.