Friday, May 22, 1998
Texas trips Bruins in first round
RECAP: Players will continue in singles after loss, bittersweet
season
By Jeff Kmiotek
Daily Bruin Contributor
Their Midwest trip has come to a shocking end.
The UCLA women’s tennis team was stunned 5-0 by No. 5 Texas in
the opening round of the NCAA Championships at Notre Dame. It was a
case of deja vu for the Bruins, as the Longhorns also sent them
back to Westwood last year in the second round of the NCAAs.
"Texas just matches up very well against us," said head coach
Stella Sampras. "They came out very fired up and got very good
starts. They played very well and we didn’t play as well as we
could have."
Texas’ strong start was the difference in this match. Four
Bruins lost their first set, and UCLA was on the comeback trail
after that. The first Bruin to go down was No. 9 Annica Cooper,
playing in the No. 1 position. The Pac-10 player of the year was
romped 6-1, 6-4, by 20th ranked Christina Moros, who won her
eighth-straight match.
"It was an extra-strong statement that No. 1 came off first,"
Texas head coach Jeff Moore said.
Five minutes later, the No. 2 match ended, as No. 32 Christina
Popescu lost 6-2, 6-4 to Sandy Sureephong, the fourth-best player
in the nation. Popescu played better than the score indicates, but
all the right bounces went the way of Texas.
Nine minutes after the Longhorns took the 2-0 lead, Kim Gates
beat Kati Kocsis 6-4, 6-4, on Court No. 4 to give Texas their third
straight-set win without a loss. It was do-or-die time for the
Bruins at that point.
Senior Kelly Rudolph, playing in the No. 6 slot, was the next
Bruin to take a seat 48 minutes after Kocsis. Rudolph looked very
strong against Janet Walker in the first set, winning 6-4. But she
lost the next set 6-1 and couldn’t recover in the final set,
succumbing 6-4.
"Their No. 6 player Walker played very well and matches up well
against Rudolph, and losing the last set 6-4 was a tough loss. It
could have gone either way," a disappointed Sampras said.
The frustrating day came to a conclusion 19 minutes later, as
Elizabeth Schmidt was edged by Michelle Faucher in the most
exciting match of the day.
Faucher grabbed the first set, 6-3, but Schmidt stormed back to
take the next set 6-3 and tie it up. In the third set, Schmidt
jumped out to a 4-1 lead and looked like a sure thing to get UCLA
on the board. But the day belonged to Texas, and Faucher came back
to win it in a tiebreaker 7-6(3).
That clinching win stopped the game on the No. 5 court, between
Amanda Basica and Laura Berendt. UCLA’s Basica, back for only her
second match since her shoulder injury in November, was losing 6-7,
6-4, 5-2 at the time of abandonment.
"We had high expectations after putting Basica back in the
lineup. It made us a stronger team, and we were playing better and
we were healthier than we had been in the past, so we were pretty
confident going in," said Sampras. "Things like this happen, but I
didn’t expect to lose it in singles."
It was a tough pill for the Bruins to swallow, but if there’s a
silver lining, it will give them much-needed experience for the
upcoming season. Sampras expects the team to learn from this, and
thinks it will make them even better next year.
It has been a season filled with peaks and valleys for UCLA.
They began the campaign ranked No. 2 with one of the deepest teams
in the country. But in November, Amanda Basica, who was considered
one of the top players in collegiate tennis, suffered a shoulder
injury.
Last year’s No. 1 Bruin, Kati Kocsis, had also been battling
injuries throughout the year. But the Bruins remained tough, and
began the dual match season with a 5-1 record. UCLA’s greatest
victory occurred on April 3, when they handed top-ranked Stanford
its only loss of the year.
They wrapped up the season at 14-10, and then dominated three
straight games in the regionals last weekend to advance to Notre
Dame. Everything was finally coming together before yesterday’s
collapse.
It’s a difficult way to go out, especially for the two seniors
on the team, co-captains Kelly Rudolph and Katia Roubanova. Rudolph
had an outstanding overall record of 29-13 in her final season, and
Roubanova excelled primarily a doubles player.
The team is down, but they will rebound. Annica Cooper,
Christina Popescu and Elizabeth Schmidt will all be back on the
court Monday to compete in the NCAA singles tournament. They will
be ready and very hungry for wins. As for the others, they’ll be
back in Westwood to begin their preparation for next year.
"I told the team I was proud of them and thanked them for all
their efforts (following the loss)," said Sampras.
The Bruins will be back next year, and they will be better than
ever.
DERRICK KUDO/Daily Bruin
Elizabeth Schmidt in a match against UNLV earlier this year.
Schmidt was the last Bruin to fall to Texas in a thrilling match
against Michelle Faucher.