Bruins scare away Sun Devils, Wildcats

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Tuesday, February 2, 1999

Bruins scare away Sun Devils, Wildcats

RECAP: Team, individuals begin path to Pac-10 title with pair of
Arizona wins

By Audrey Jing

Daily Bruin Contributor

It’s all coming together for the eighth ranked UCLA women’s
tennis team. Having replaced the disappointment and injuries of
1998 with new players, experience and determination, the 4-0 Bruins
are on the ball and on the move after victories over the No. 12 Sun
Devils of Arizona State and the No. 24 University of Arizona
Wildcats this weekend.

UCLA opened Pac-10 play with its win over Arizona on Friday
before going on to beat Arizona State on Saturday.

"This is a great start," Cristina Popescu said. "Everyone is
feeling good, and we’re really confident."

UCLA rebounded from last season’s double loss to the Sun Devils
with a convincing 7-2 win. The Bruins decided the outcome in
singles play, taking five of the six matches.

Popescu spearheaded the singles charge, taking down ASU’s No. 1
Allison Bradshaw 6-3, 6-0 in less than an hour. No. 6 Petya
Marinova was next, bringing in a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Celena
McCoury. UCLA’s No. 3, Amanda Basica, disposed of Katy Propstra
6-2, 6-4, while No. 4 Brandi Freudenberg battled out a 6-2, 3-6,
6-4 win over Kerry Giardino to give the Bruins a 4-0 lead.

ASU sophomore Faye DeVera registered the Sun Devils’ only
singles point with a close 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 win over UCLA No. 5 Katia
Roubanova.

All Sun Devil hopes were dashed after that, however, when Bruin
No. 2 Annica Cooper came off the court with a 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 win
over Karin Palme for the deciding fifth point.

"We had a really good day to beat a team that’s ranked 12th in
the country," coach Stella Sampras said. "And to beat them in
singles is excellent."

With business taken care of, the Bruins went on to doubles
action. UCLA’s top tandem of Basica and Cooper showed why it is the
No. 12 ranked team in the nation, going 4-0 in dual matches with an
8-5 win over the No. 17 team of Propstra and Bradshaw.

Marinova and Popescu also recorded their fourth win of the
season, defeating Giardino and Palme, 8-6. But Freudenberg and
Raiss were challenged, losing 8-9 in a tiebreaker to DeVera and
McCoury.

UCLA came into the Arizona State match prepared, having warmed
up with a win over Arizona the day before.

"To beat Arizona 7-2 is a great start to the Pac-10 season,"
Sampras said. "It was a great match for us to get under our belts
to get us ready for (Arizona State)."

Singles told the story once again. The Bruins took a 4-0 lead
after straight set wins from Cooper, Basica, Freudenberg and
Roubanova.

In a battle of freshmen, ASU’s Carly Stringer defeated UCLA’s
Raiss 3-6, 6-3, 6-0.

Clinching the match this time for the Bruins was rookie Marinova
who fought out a three-set victory over Vanessa Abel. With the
match tied up at two sets apiece, a determined Marinova pulled out
a 6-3 third set for the win.

"I didn’t want to let the team down," Marinova said. "I wanted
to win it so we wouldn’t have to worry about doubles."

The Bruins took two out of the three doubles matches, with
Cooper and Basica winning easily at No. 1, and Marinova and Popescu
grinding out a 7-4 tiebreaker to take their match, 9-8. Freudenberg
and Raiss ran into a little trouble with a 4-8 loss.

"It’s great to see Annica and Amanda do well," Sampras said.
"You can tell they’ve played together. They played all fall, and
they’re getting better and better."

"Our other two teams just need to get some experience. The
longer they play together, the better they’re going to be."

They Bruins take their four-game winning streak to Malibu today
where they will face the No. 15 Pepperdine Waves. Last season the
Waves beat the Bruins in two contests by scores of 6-3 and 5-4.

But with three wins last week, the Bruins are prepared for a
tough match.

"Right now we’re pretty tough," Basica said.

"We build our confidence after each win and the momentum is
definitely with us."

GENEVIEVE LIANG/Daily Bruin Senior Staff

UCLA’s No. 3 Amanda Basica reaches to hit the ball in a match
against Arizona this weekend.