Junior Matt Loucks battled No. 2 seeded Sven Swinnen of Oregon in the finals of the Wilson/ITA West Regional Championships yesterday afternoon at Berkeley’s Hellman Tennis Center. Loucks pushed Swinnen to the limit, but ended up dropping the match, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.

“Matt had a fantastic tournament,” said head coach Aaron Gross. “He definitely had chances today. He had four break points in the beginning of the third set and just couldn’t quite get it. I think if he had gotten one of those points and gotten up a break, he would have had a good chance to win the match.

“Swinnen is one of the best players in the nation,” continued Gross. “He had only one difficult match before the final, everyone else he blew away. He was pretty fresh, plus the match was moved indoors, which was the big serving Swinnen’s advantage. But just like he has done the whole tourney, Matt really battled.

“I think Matt really did UP proud this weekend,” noted Gross. “The result is another feather in our programs’ cap. With Travis Parrott doing so well on the pro tour now, and Roman Borvanov picking up some ATP points this summer, we really have some momentum going as a program. I think this group of guys has the character to further that momentum in the coming years.”