By Brian Kiley
Daily Bruin Contributor
It was dark for the home teams in the land of the sun last
weekend as the No. 8 Bruins (12-2) defeated Arizona 5-2 on Friday
and then crushed No. 10 Arizona State 6-1 on Saturday. It was the
second sweep of the Arizona teams for the Bruins this season.
UCLA’s doubles teams were strong all weekend, winning all
three matches each day. Megan Bradley and Lauren Fisher were
especially strong at the No. 2 doubles spot, cruising to an 8-1 on
Friday and 8-5 on Saturday. The No. 1 doubles team of Sara Walker
and Petya Marinova won 8-6 and 8-5 on Friday and Saturday
respectively, and Sarah Gregg and Mariko Fritz-Krockow tallied an
8-5 win at No. 3 on Friday before beating up on the Sun Devils 8-3
on Saturday.
The Bruins were nearly as strong in weekend’s singles
play. They overcame a few upset defeats with strong play towards
the bottom of the ladder.
The team’s singles play against the Sun Devils on Saturday
was especially stellar. When Arizona State visited Los Angeles in
February, the Bruins escaped with a 4-3 victory due to the heroics
of Catherine Hawley in the final match. On Saturday no such drama
was necessary. Bradley and Marinova each won in straight sets, and
Fisher and Hawley grinded out tough three set wins. Walker was
upset 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 by Dora Krstulovic for Arizona State’s
only point.
“The girls were fired up on Saturday because they knew
that ASU was No. 10 in the country,” UCLA head coach Stella
Sampras said. “They knew they had to raise their level, and
they did.”
The weekend victories give the Bruins a 12-2 overall record, and
a 6-1 Pac-10 mark. They are currently in second place in the
Pac-10, behind Stanford. The Bruins will travel to Northern
California this weekend to take on Cal on Friday and Stanford on
Saturday. The team is healthy, and they are as focused as ever on
their ultimate goal of winning an NCAA championship.
“It’s the fittest team and the team that’s
playing well that will win the championship,” Sampras said.
“It’s important for us to stay healthy, because the
team is very motivated.”
On Friday, UCLA faced high winds and high altitude in Tucson,
but were still able to tame the overmatched Wildcats. Walker,
Fisher, Hawley and Gregg all recorded straight set wins to secure
the team victory for the Bruins. No. 3 Bradley was upset No. 20
Maja Mlakar of Arizona 6-4, 7-5 in the No. 1 singles match, and
Marinova was narrowly defeated 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 by Dianne Hollands at
the No. 3 spot.