W. tennis breezes by LMU, Utah in home opener
By Chris Isidro
If you came to the Los Angeles Tennis Center to see two prize
fighters go the distance, just be happy Loyola Marymount and Utah
answered the bell as the UCLA women’s tennis team made quick work
in their first home matches of the season.
Against their traditional opening weekend foes, the Bruins
continued their history of dominance upending LMU, 8-1 and Utah,
6-1, in a rain-shortened match.
The Lions roared like kittens Friday as the No. 7 Bruins clawed
LMU up and down the ladder. It was no contest as UCLA did not lose
a set in singles and surrendered its only point when walk-ons
Michelle Jannone and Kerry Gallant retired in doubles against Lia
Bunker and Angela Rask after the match was tied one set apiece.
"I thought LMU would be a little better," UCLA head coach Bill
Zaima said. "This is not one of their stronger teams right
now."
Friday’s meeting featured one of the biggest routs in recent
memory as freshman Kelly Rudolph, making her home debut, crushed
Wendy Peterson 6-0, 6-0 in a match that was over in well under an
hour.
"I was just excited to go out there for my first match," Rudolph
said. "It’s really competitive here and it gets me really psyched
up to play."
Utah did not break so easily as they threatened to take two
matches to three sets. On court one, junior Keri Phebus trailed 4-5
against Mirja Wallmark in the second set after dropping the prior
two games. The No. 8 player in the nation, no stranger to pressure
situations, won the next three games to close out the match 6-4,
7-5.
Junior Paige Yaroshuk had a skirmish of her own battling Linda
Engblom. A spirited effort by Utah’s freshman forced a second-set
tiebreaker. Experience prevailed, however, as Engblom double
faulted at match point to hand Yaroshuk a 6-3, 7-6 (8-6)
victory.