W. tennis downs UW,
Starrett injures back
By Chris Isidro
Rain came too late to save Washington as the UCLA women’s tennis
team cruised to a 7-2 victory Saturday at the Los Angeles Tennis
Center.
Inclement weather washed out Sunday’s match against Pepperdine,
but the gray clouds did not stop the No. 4 Bruins (12-2) from
recording their third victory in three meetings with the
Huskies.
Washington, boasting just one player in the top 100, was
outmanned at every position. The Bruins dominated at the top,
winning their three center court matches in straight sets. Freshman
Stephanie Chi dominated in her third appearance on center court,
defeating Kori Sosnowy 6-1, 6-2 in the No. 3 position.
On the back courts, Washington fared a little better taking
their only singles point on Court 4. Susie Starrett aggravated a
sore back early in her match against Washington’s Erica Stoloff
forcing the senior Bruin to retire in the second set.
"It was sore during practice (on Friday)," Starrett said.
"Today, I was up 1-0, I went for a serve and I felt a sharp pain
that went down my back and my hip."
Starrett held tough in the first set, but No. 75 Stoloff
exploited the Bruin’s mobility problems and moved her shots all
over the baseline. After Stoloff took the first set 7-5, UCLA
assistant coach Stella Sampras pulled the plug on the match.
UCLA’s Diana Spadea began to regain her All-American form after
suffering an early season injury, blowing past Keidi Buchanan 6-0,
6-1.
Bruin Anicia Mendez reeled in the first nine games against Kari
Luna, but the Husky did not fold coming back, down 0-3, to force a
tie break before losing 6-0, 7-6 (7-3).