By Hannah Gordon
Daily Bruin Contributor
The South proved hospitable to the Bruins. Sophomore Sara Walker
advanced to the second round of the NCAA Individual Tournament in
Stone Mountain, Ga. on Tuesday, while junior Petya Marinova and
freshman Lauren Fisher advanced in doubles. UCLA’s No. 2
doubles team of Walker and freshman Mariko Fritz-Krockow lost in
the first round to the nation’s top team.
Walker, the No. 16 seed in singles, eliminated Ipek Senoglu of
Pepperdine 6-3, 6-3. The victory appeared smooth to her coach, but
Walker was nervous at first.
“(Senoglu) is a senior so I knew she would come fired up
at her last tournament,” Walker said. “And I
wasn’t expecting to play indoors. I’ve gotten used to
outdoor courts.”
Walker was conservative at first, allowing Senoglu to run her
around the court. But as Walker’s jitters subsided, she began
dictating the game, which is how she prefers to play.
Walker will next play Alabama’s Mirela Vledascu, ranked
No. 20.
In doubles, Marinova and Fisher defeated Loyola
Marymount’s Andrea Lord and Angelina Zdorovytska 6-1, 6-4.
Marinova and Fisher started slow, falling behind 3-0. Given their
emotional style of play, you’d expect them to get
frustrated.
“We only get in trouble when we get mad at
ourselves,” Marinova said. “Things were not looking
good and we could’ve gotten down.”
However, the duo remained confident despite the fact that they
lost to Lord and Zdorovytska in March.
“When we lost before, we gave it to them. We were up 7-4
before we lost,” Fisher said.
Fisher and Marinova took the next five games. Once they had
taken the first set, they felt they had the match.
“It helped a lot that we had more time because it is not
one eight-game set,” Marinova said, referring to how
competitors in the NCAA Individual Tournament play three six-game
sets rather than one eight-game set.
But their teammates did not fare as well. Walker and
Fritz-Krockow had the bad luck of facing the No. 1 seed,
Stanford’s Lauren Barnikow and Lauren Kalvaria, in the round
of 64.
“What can you do? It’s the luck of the draw,”
Fritz-Krockow said.
Barnikow and Kalvaria defeated the Bruins 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.
Fritz-Krockow and Walker took the momentum away from the Cardinal
in the second set and held control until part way through the third
set.
“Sara and Mariko definitely challenged the No. 1
team,” UCLA Head Coach Stella Sampras said. “They
scared them a little bit.”
However, Kalvaria and Barnikow showed why they are ranked No. 1,
as they stepped up their level to take back the match.
NCAA individual play will continue throughout the week.
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On the men’s side, sophomore Jean-Julien Rojer and senior
Jean-Noel Grinda begin play in the NCAA Individual Championships
today. In singles Grinda, who is unseeded, will play No. 6 seed
Oskar Johansson of Arkansas while Rojer, seeded 9-16, will play
Daniel Kiernen of Louisiana State. The pair will also play in the
Individual Doubles tournament.