Monday, January 26, 1998
Bruins beat Utah by overcoming injuries, but incur more
W.TENNIS Depth has saved UCLA in the first two matches, but it
could give out later in the season
By Jared Hummel
Daily Bruin Contributor
Friday was a bittersweet day for UCLA women’s tennis.
While improving their overall record to 2-0 with a strong 7-2
victory over Utah, the Bruins lost another player to injury.
On an afternoon when junior Kati Kocsis recorded a 6-1, 6-1 win
over Utah’s Linda Peterson in her first singles match since last
season’s NCAA Championships in May, freshman Cristina Popescu went
down with a pulled muscle and had to retire after losing the first
set of her match.
Popescu now takes Kocsis’ old position on the sideline, joining
up with All-Americans Amanda Basica and Katia Roubanova on the
injured list.
Sophomore Annica Cooper once again played in the No. 1 position
in place of Basica and performed impressively, just as she did in
her match against UC Irvine. Cooper won in straight sets over
senior Anna Svedenhov, who had entered the day with a No. 33
national ranking.
In the No. 2 position, sophomore Elizabeth Schmidt needed three
sets to knock off Utah’s Megan Payne 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.
Not wanting to be left out of the fun, junior Brandi Freudenberg
earned herself a straight-sets victory by defeating Utah’s Heidi
Thomas 6-0, 6-3.
The most impressive performance of the day, however, was turned
in by senior Kelly Rudolph as she hammered Utah’s Rebecca Foulger
6-0, 6-0.
As a result of Popescu’s injury UCLA’s doubles lineup was
adjusted, placing Freudenberg and Rudolph in the No. 1 position
where they proceeded to defeat Utah’s team of Angie Olson and
Payne, 8-5.
Juniors Alyson and Shana Gray joined forces in beating Utah’s
Thomas and Peterson 8-3.
With the match in hand, UCLA elected to default from the final
doubles match accounting for Utah’s second point.
The tremendous depth on this season’s team had been tested early
on as three All-Americans were sidelined in the first dual-match,
against UC Irvine Wednesday, but has not yet been a factor as the
competition thus far has not been overly strong.
However, with top-ranked teams, such as Arizona State on Friday
and Pepperdine University on Feb. 3, UCLA’s injuries could quickly
become a significant setback.
UCLA will be on the road for a two-week stint before returning
to the Los Angeles Tennis Center Feb. 12 to face Loyola Marymount
University.