By Brian Kiley
Daily Bruin Contributor
[email protected]
Somebody forgot to tell the Washington Huskies that the UCLA
Bruins are the No. 7 seed in the NCAA tournament.
They also neglected to mention that No. 7 seeds are supposed to
cruise through the first two rounds of the tournament, especially
when they play on their home turf.
Washington gave the Bruins all they could handle on Saturday
before bowing out 4-1, allowing UCLA to advance to the round of 16
to play USC at Stanford.
“Washington came to play,” said UCLA head coach
Stella Sampras. “They played well, it was a good match. They
made us play, and I’m just glad that we’ve got another
day and another (match).”
The tournament started out much easier for the Bruins. They
destroyed overmatched Southern University 4-0, with Southern
winning one game in singles play and being blanked 8-0, 8-0, and
7-0 (suspended) in the three doubles matches.
“It was good to get through the first round and get the
jitter out,” Sampras said. “The girls did a great job
of staying focused.”
On Saturday it seemed as though Friday’s romp was a little
too easy for the Bruins, although they came out a step slow in
doubles play. Very quickly, Washington had captured the doubles
point.
Sara Walker and Petya Marinova, the No. 4 doubles team in the
nation, was trounced 8-3 by Claire Carter and Darija Kliac, and the
fifth-ranked tandem of Megan Bradley and Lauren Fisher was edged
9-8 by Colleen Gray and Dea Sumantri. These two Washington
victories negated an 8-4 UCLA win by Catherine Hawley and Sarah
Gregg at the third doubles spot.
“We came out flat (in doubles),” Fisher said.
“We try and come back, and there’s just not enough
time in an eight-game pro set to do that. We need to start out with
energy and intensity or we’re going to lose stupid matches
like that.”
Despite surrendering the doubles point, UCLA was still confident
that it could secure the victory with its singles play.
“We knew we had to step up, and not worry about the
doubles point,” Walker said. “We had go out there and
not worry how everyone else was doing and just win (our own)
match.”
Walker showed the focus and determination of a player likely to
be named an All-American for the third straight year, handling
Klaic 6-2, 6-3.
“I’m really confident with my strokes, and my serve
is really on,” Walker said. “I just need to try and
stay confident.
Fisher was off the court next, countering Gray’s fierce
ground strokes with precision volleys and consistent serves en
route to a 6-3, 6-2 win.
Bradley also won in straight sets, overpowering Carter 6-4,
6-2.
“I felt good out there,” Bradley said.
“I’m where I want to be with my game right now, and
I’m very happy to be there.”
Appropriately, it was senior captain Petya Marinova that
clinched the victory. Battling the flu and a determined opponent,
Marinova prevailed with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 win over Ilona Kordonskaya
to stamp UCLA’s ticket to Palo Alto.
“I have the flu and my immune system is really weak, so it
makes it hard for me to run all over the place and be
energetic,” Marinova said. “But, I’ve got to do
what I’ve got to do. It’s my last year.”
Per NCAA tournament rules, Gregg and Hawley’s matches were
suspended once UCLA had clinched the victory. Hawley was starting
her third set, and Gregg was battling to force a third set late in
the second.
UCLA will travel Tuesday to Stanford, the site for the Final
Four rounds of the NCAA tournament, to acclimate themselves to the
environment before facing USC on Thursday.
“We’ve seen ‘SC before,” Sampras said.
“And we just need to work on our game plans and make sure the
bodies and minds are ready.”