Thursday, February 12, 1998
Rains subside as Bruins get ready to court Lions
W. TENNIS: UCLA hopes to continue past success in LMU match
By Jared Hummel
Daily Bruin Contributor
After an 11-day resting period due in part to the recent
torrential downpours, the UCLA women’s tennis team will be back in
action today to take on the Loyola Marymount Lions.
All-American sophomore Katia Roubanova has sufficiently
recovered from a stress injury to her foot, which has kept her out
of action since early in the fall. But Roubanova will probably not
be returned to the lineup until tomorrow’s big match against
USC.
Despite the setback resulting from a loss at the hands of
Arizona State in Phoenix on Jan. 30, the Bruins are playing well
and should continue their successful early-season run today versus
LMU.
UCLA had little trouble in last year’s match as they flattened a
lethargic Lion team 9-0, despite the resting of their top player at
the time, Kati Kocsis.
More of the same is expected today as the Bruins should collect
their fourth victory of the season barring an upset of monumental
capacity.
UCLA head coach Stella Sampras feels assured of her team’s
chances but nonetheless alludes to the possibility of a letdown if
a favored team fails to take an opponent seriously.
"They have a few new players, but I’m pretty confident that our
team will play really well, and we should have a successful day,"
Sampras said. "But every match we play we go out to improve so we
take it very seriously. They’re going to be ready and up to play us
because they don’t have much to lose."
UCLA will keep sophomore Annica Cooper in the No. 1 spot where
she has posted a perfect 4-0 mark this season. Sophomore Elizabeth
Schmidt, junior Kati Kocsis, senior Kelly Rudolph, junior Brandi
Freudenberg and junior Alyson Gray will most likely round out the
lineup at No. 6.
Top player Amanda Basica and highly regarded freshman Cristina
Popescu are still sidelined but are making significant progress in
their recovery efforts. Popescu should return to action as early as
tomorrow if not today.
The Bruins have yet to lose to LMU as they own a 5-0 series
record against them.