The women’s tennis team will send five representatives to
the Pac-10 Championships in Ojai this weekend. The tournament, one
of several Ojai is hosting, will begin Thursday and end Sunday.
Freshmen Laura Gordon and Shilpa Joshi will compete along with
sophomore Anya Loncaric in the main singles draw, while freshmen
Nina Yaftali and Kate Jolson will compete in the invitational
singles draw. Joshi and Loncaric will also compete in the main
doubles draw.
Gordon undoubtedly has the toughest first round matchup of the
bunch, as she will face No. 11 Adria Engel of Arizona State. Engel
split matches with UCLA All-American Sara Walker this season, and
has been ranked in the top 25 all year. Gordon finished the regular
season with a 9-13 record in dual match play and comes into the
tournament on a five-game losing streak, though her last victory
did come against Arizona State.
A very formidable opponent also awaits Joshi in the first round.
She will face No. 44 Courtney Nagle of Oregon State. Joshi saw
limited dual match action this season, and she finished with a
record of 4-6. Loncaric will meet Engel’s teammate Lauren
Colalillo in her first round match. Colalillo defeated Gordon on
March 21, but was defeated by Susi Wild in the second UCLA-ASU
match.
Yaftali and Jolson only have played only one dual match between
them this season. Yaftali, who defeated LMU’s Erin Sanchez in
her lone dual-match appearance this year, will face senior Kathy
Chi of Washington in her opening-round match. Jolson will take on
freshman Joanna Kao of Stanford, who only saw action in one match
for the Cardinal this year.
In the doubles draw, Joshi and Loncaric will face a team that
dominated the Bruins in the regular season. The 19th-ranked team of
Tiffany Brymer and Jewel Peterson of USC defeated Gordon and Walker
and then Wild and Sarah Gregg in two matches against the Bruins
earlier this year.
The rest of UCLA’s team will have the week off from match
play and will be preparing for the NCAA regionals, which begin May
9.