It’s becoming a routine. The UCLA women’s tennis
team will talk about how tough and talented Pepperdine is, but the
result on the scoreboard remains the same.
By defeating the Waves 6-1 Wednesday, the No. 7 Bruins swept the
season series for the third straight year. Wednesday’s match
was remarkably similar to the team’s 5-2 win over Pepperdine
in February.
The Bruins got off to a quick start, taking all three doubles
sets.
“They came out fired up in doubles,” UCLA coach
Stella Sampras Webster said. “I’m pleased with how our
players handled that. They didn’t panic.”
In singles, the Bruins’ bottom half of the lineup cruised
once again. Lauren Fisher was first off the court after a 6-1, 6-3
win over Merve Asimigil on Court 5. Sarah Gregg followed with a
6-0, 6-2 win at No. 4 against Karin Schlapbach. On Court 6, Laura
Gordon hiccuped in her second set against Eva Dickes, but she
recovered in the third to post a 6-2, 0-6, 6-3 victory.
“It went so fast, it’s like it didn’t even
happen,” Gordon said of her second set. “I was just
going to concentrate on the third set like I was starting
over.”
By the time Gordon finished her final match, all three matches
on the top courts were still in action. Feriel Esseghir was the
only Bruin to post a straight set victory on the top courts,
beating Charlotte Vernaz 6-1, 6-4 at No. 3.
Like the previous outing, UCLA struggled on the top two courts.
The Bruins yielded their only two points at those positions in
February and were in danger of doing it again after both Jackie
Carleton and Daniela Bercek lost their first sets 6-4. However,
Bercek bounced back against Caroline Raba to win the second set in
a tiebreak (7-4) and followed up with another tiebreak win (10-7)
for the third set and match.
“I was a little scared going into the first
tiebreak,” said Bercek, who was forced to default her match
against the Waves in February. “But I’ve been playing
pretty tough the last few matches and this is just a really good
win.”
Carleton was unable to do the same, losing to Natalie Braverman
6-4, 6-4 at the top spot. Serving to stay in the first set,
Carleton committed seven unforced errors. She missed groundstrokes
wide on each of the last two points of the match.
“I knew it’d be a tough year for Jackie playing No.
1 every match,” Sampras Webster said. “Even though she
struggled, it just takes one match for her to get her confidence
back.”
She’ll get her next chance Friday against No. 6
Washington.