Friday, May 15, 1998
Healthy players increase Bruins’ hopes of NCAA Championship
WOMEN’S TENNIS: No. 1 seeded team must first conquer foes at
Midwest Regional
By Jeff Kmiotek
Daily Bruin Contributor
After a year filled with highs and lows, the playoffs have
finally arrived for the UCLA women’s tennis team.
And the timing couldn’t be better, as the squad is on their
biggest high of the year.
The Bruins will compete in the regionals this weekend at the
University of Illinois, in hopes of advancing to the NCAA
Championships at Notre Dame next week. UCLA is the top seed in the
eight-team Midwest bracket.
They will begin their journey to South Bend today at 10 a.m.
against No. 40 Marquette (16-7).
"The team is very confident," UCLA head coach Stella Sampras
said. "This is the first time we’re all healthy and fielding a full
lineup."
The Bruins will be going back to the Basica, as sophomore Amanda
Basica will be playing for the first time since Nov. 16. Slated to
be one of the top players on the team, Basica has been sidelined
with a shoulder injury throughout the year. Prior to her injury,
she was 10-1 in tournament play and considered to be one of the
best players in collegiate tennis and an NCAA contender.
"Amanda is feeling good right now," said Sampras. "She will play
against Marquette and take it from there."
If the No. 14 Bruins (14-10) defeat Marquette, they’ll take on
the winner of the Purdue-Indiana match Saturday. They have yet to
play any of the teams in the Midwest bracket, but believe they will
come out on top. They are collectively playing their best tennis of
the year.
"I was watching practice last week and everyone was playing at
such a high level, so much better than earlier," said Elizabeth
Schmidt, ranked 60th in the country. "I think we can win it. I’m so
excited and I know my teammates are too."
The toughest team UCLA could face is Notre Dame in the Regional
Finals on Sunday. The Fighting Irish is 18-9 and ranked 19th in the
nation.
Although the Bruins are heavily favored, they aren’t counting
their chickens.
"We’re supposed to win it, and we’re good enough to win it, but
it won’t be easy," Pac-10 player of the year Annica Cooper said.
"Notre Dame and the other teams are good, but if we play like we’ve
been playing of late, we’ll win."
Cooper also believes the regionals will be beneficial to the
Bruins should they advance to the 16-team NCAA Championships. She’s
looking at it as a type of warm-up tournament. Ten teams have
already qualified for the Championships and will not need to
compete in regionals.
"After having a big break, it’s usually hard to get back into
it. This is a great situation for us," Cooper said.
And it couldn’t be better. The team is at the top of their game,
and adding Basica to the mix makes for a formidable team which
promises to be a strong contender at the NCAA Championships.