Friday, April 10, 1998
Teams prepare to serve up satisfying season finales
TENNIS: Bruins head up north to battle Huskies, Ducks in final
games
By Stephanie Chan
Daily Bruin Contributor
The No. 8 UCLA men’s tennis team headed north last weekend and
will head farther north this weekend to close out a string of six
road matches. The Bruins will enter Washington and Oregon with an
overall record of 12-5 and a Pac-10 record of 5-3.
The No. 29 Washington Huskies and the No. 65 Oregon Ducks have
both been struggling in Pac-10 play with 1-3 and 0-4 records
respectively. The Bruins are coming off two Pac-10 losses against
No. 1 Stanford and No. 28 California who hold the No. 1 and No. 2
positions in the Pac-10 standings.
Neither Washington nor Oregon has been able to steal a game from
the Bruins in dual play history. UCLA has nine wins against the
Huskies and four against the Ducks.
Leading the Bruins are No. 12 Jean-Noel Grinda, No. 10 Vince
Allegre and No. 34 Matt Breen. At the head of the pack for the
Huskies are No. 66 Robert Kendrick and No. 86 Eric Drew who have
been sharing time at the No. 1 and No. 2 positions. The Ducks are
led by No. 53 Erwan Kergroach who hails from France as do UCLA’s
Grinda, Allegre and Alex Decret.
When the Bruins return to the familiar blue courts of the Los
Angeles Tennis Center next weekend, they will once again be met by
Stanford and California for their final matches of the season.
The No. 16 UCLA women’s tennis team caged up the Huskies
yesterday, in an afternoon match pitting the Bruins against No. 44
Washington.
Only Annica Cooper fell 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 to Washington’s Kruszewski
in the first singles match of the day.
In the second match Cristina Popescu beat Stunova in straight
sets. Following Popescu’s footsteps were Elizabeth Schmidt and
Kelly Rudolph who both notched straight set victories.
Kati Kocsis would overcome Washington’s Wagner in three sets,
while Brandi Freudenberg would wrap up the UCLA victory with a
three set victory over Washington’s Luna.
Thursday’s victory was crucial as they continue to improve near
the end of the season. With a stunning upset over Stanford on April
3 and a heart-breaking loss to Cal, the Bruins enter a three-match
homestand on a high note. More importantly, this weekend will be
the last homestand for seniors Rudolph and Kocsis who will play
their last match against Oregon on Sunday.
Rocky Salmon, Daily Bruin Senior Staff, also contributed to this
story.