By Jason Saltoun Ebin
Daily Bruin Contributor
In college tennis, losing four out of six starters can devastate
a team for years. But for the UCLA women’s tennis team,
losing four starters has proved to be a blessing in disguise.
In what was supposed to be a rebuilding season for the Bruins,
the No. 6 women’s tennis team, with only two returning
starters, has charged out to a 3-1 record (2-0 Pac-10) and a place
among the nation’s elite.
“Last year and the year before we had a lot of really
well-known and high-ranked players but never came together as a
team,” junior Petya Marinova said. “This year we
support each other and are doing so much better as a team even
though we only have two ranked singles players.”
Because of the new Bruins added to the lineup, head coach Stella
Sampras said, “I almost don’t know what to expect from
this team, there is no telling how well this team can do. I
don’t want to state any limits on this team because they have
already improved a ton since fall and some players have been
playing the best since coming to UCLA.”
But rebuilding does not accurately describe what the team is
experiencing right now. Rather, the newly formed Bruin starting
lineup, with the exception of No. 1 singles and No. 12 nationally
ranked sophomore Sara Walker, is taking advantage of its first
opportunity to see consistent playing time by posting win after
win.
At No. 1 Walker, who had a rough fall season while recovering
from a back injury, has taken up where she left off last season.
She has regained the confidence that led her to a 14-3 overall
singles record in dual matches last season (12-2 at No. 1) and a
No. 3 preseason ranking.
“Sara seems to be playing better everyday,” Marinova
said.
Walker has all the tools needed to win a national singles
championship, and if she keeps her intensity up she could get UCLA
its first such title.
Following Walker, junior Catherine Hawley (No. 97 nationally) is
the only other returning Bruin boasting consistent playing time.
Last season she saw action at the No. 5 and 6 singles spots,
posting an 8-7 record in dual matches, but this season she moved up
to No. 2.
“She is probably the most improved player since last year
and she is probably in the best shape of her life,” Sampras
said. In the Bruins’ four dual matches Hawley has posted a
3-1 record.
At No. 3, senior and co-captain Zana Zlebnik started the season
healthy but has since fallen prey to injury. After competing
against Arizona State and Arizona Jan. 27 and 28, she was in
tremendous pain and could barely walk.
Zlebnik learned that she has a degenerate disk in her lower back
and must sit out indefinitely.
Taking Zlebnik’s spot and moving up to No. 3 in her
absence, Marinova is having a breakout season after seeing limited
action in an injury-plagued freshmen year. She had a 2-9 record in
dual matches at the No. 5 and 6 spot. But Marinova has already
improved upon last season’s record, earning a 3-1 record in
dual matches so far.
“She has been healthy and has been able to practice and
train hard everyday,” Sampras said. “I am very
impressed with her so far.”
Following Marinova, the No. 4 and 5 positions display two
freshmen who have already made their impact felt on their team as
well as the nation.
At No. 4 singles, Lauren Fisher is 3-1, and at No. 1 doubles
with Marinova the duo have posted wins over the No. 2 and No. 3
nationally ranked teams.
Mariko Fritz-Krockow follows at No. 5 and has played up to the
same standards as her fellow freshman. She won her last three
matches to go 3-1 in dual match competition.
“The freshmen are giving us the depth we need so that we
can win at every spot,” Sampras said.
Rounding out the Bruin lineup, senior and co-captain Jennifer
Donahue has stepped into the singles lineup since Zlebnik went
down. Donahue is 1-1 in singles but has competed with Fritz-Krockow
at No. 3 doubles since the Bruins first dual match late January.
The doubles team has split its matches so far (2-2) but are a new
team who are still getting used to playing together.
Donahue brings more to the court then just her game, though.
“The team looks up to her,” Sampras said. “She
gets the team going and they respond to her.”
But how well the team responds to Donahue will be tested Feb.
15-18 when the Bruins make their annual haul to Madison, Wis. to
compete in the National Indoor tournament.
“It is the closest thing to the NCAA tournament,”
Sampras said. “Every team in the event is strong and it is an
important tournament to get some out-of-region experience and
wins.”
UCLA earned the No. 4 seed but of the 16 teams the Bruins will
compete against, 14 are ranked in the top 25 and six are in the top
10.
“I think it is going to be a good experience,”
Fisher said. “We are going to see how we stand against the
other top teams in the nation and learn our strengths and
weaknesses.”
Even though every team will be tough, the Bruins have a good
draw.
Facing 15th-seeded Northwestern Thursday and then the winner of
either No. 22 seed Washington or 11th-seed Vanderbilt Friday, the
Bruins have a good chance to make it to the quarterfinals. But if
they make it through they will likely face Stanford in the
quarterfinals. The Cardinal is 6-0 (3-0 Pac-10) and have Laura
Granville, the No. 3 player in the nation. If the Bruins win, it
could be a bigger upset then what happened two weeks ago at
Maples.
Rounding out the nine-member Bruin team, freshman Chelsea Godbey
and sophomore Michelle Stiefel have the often unnoticed and under
appreciated role of watching and supporting and being prepared in
case of an injury.
“They have to be ready to step in when they are called.
They have a tough role because they are not playing in the matches
but they could be,” Sampras said. “They have been doing
everything we have asked them to do and are a huge part of this
team.”
Absent from the Bruin team this year is senior Cristina Popescu,
who has been unable to recover since tearing her patella tendon in
March 1999.
Popescu has officially taken this quarter off to assess the
permanence of her injury but her presence has been severely missed.
She last competed at the No. 1 singles for the Bruins and was
preseason No. 14 in the nation for the 1999-2000 season. With a
healthy Popescu in the lineup the Bruins would be propelled to
another level of college tennis with a realistic chance at a second
national championship.
WOMEN’S TENNIS SOURCE: UCLA Sports Info
Original graphic by VICTOR CHEN/Daily Bruin Web adaptation by REX
LORENZO