Monday, April 27, 1998
Cooper reigns in Cardinals for Pac-10 singles crown
W. TENNIS: No. 15 Bruin defeats previous Stanford champion in
Ojai despite first game stumble
By Jeff Kmiotek
Daily Bruin Contributor
Stanford has dominated the women’s tennis scene this year, but
they still can’t figure out UCLA’s Annica Cooper.
Cooper, who has owned Stanford this year, breezed by two
Cardinals on her way to winning the Pac-10 singles championship
yesterday at the Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament.
Cooper took the title from Stanford’s Julie Scott, who had won
it the previous two years. This year, however, Scott was upset in
the quarterfinals. Her Stanford teammate, No. 15 Teryn Ashley,
advanced to the finals but failed to keep the trophy in Palo
Alto.
Ashley took the first finals set from Cooper, 6-2, but Cooper
came back with a 6-4 win and polished Ashley off 7-6 (0).
Cooper, currently ranked 15th in the nation, defeated five
opponents to capture the title. In the opening round on Thursday,
Cooper beat ASU’s Stephanie Lansdrop 4-6, 6-1, 6-1. Next, she
overwhelmed No. 40 Betsy Miringoff of Arizona in straight sets,
6-2, 7-5. In the quarterfinals, Cooper got off to a rough start but
still took care of Washington State’s Tunde Nagy.
Cooper then met Stanford’s Ania Bleszynski in the semifinal
round. Bleszynski, ranked 86th, gave a tremendous effort, but
Cooper prevailed 7-6 (0), 4-6, 6-3 to advance to the finals. With
these five victories, Cooper improved to 32-11 on the year in
singles play.
Cooper was not the only Bruin representing UCLA in the 32-woman
singles draw at the Ojai tourney. Kelly Rudolph made a strong
showing, conquering No. 59 Claire Curran of California 6-1, 1-6,
6-4. But Rudolph would not advance any further, losing to
Washington’s Kristina Kraszewski 6-2, 6-2.
UCLA’s Elizabeth Schmidt, who had won seven straight matches
going into the tournament, was matched up with one of the the
toughest player in the draw, Scott, and lost 6-3, 7-5. Also
competing in the singles tournament was Brandi Freidenberg, who was
defeated in the opening round by Oregon’s Alina Wygonowska 6-3, 6-7
(10), 6-1.
UCLA also sent two teams to Ojai to compete in the doubles
bracket, but they did not fare as well. Freshman phenom Christina
Popescu, No. 31 in the country, paired up with Schmidt. The duo
destroyed a twosome from Washington in the opening round, 6-1, 6-1,
but couldn’t overcome Stanford’s doubles team of Bleszynski and
Scott in the second round, going down 6-2, 6-0.
The Bruins’ other doubles squad, comprised of Cooper and Katia
Roubanova, failed to advance past the first round, falling to a
pair of Arizona Wildcats 6-4, 6-3.
All in all, it was a great four days for the UCLA women’s tennis
program. The Bruins will now prepare for their next battle, the
NCAA Regionals, which begins on May 15.
DERRICK KUDO/Daily Bruin
Kati Kocsis competed in the Pac-10 Championships in Ojai.