Tennis unable to conquer Troy

Riza Zalameda screamed in frustration. Alex McGoodwin slammed her racket against her foot. Fans hollered their disapproval as another line call went against the Bruins. Tracy Lin sat dazed-looking as she was carted off the courts under the illuminated lights at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.

It was that kind of afternoon for the No. 19 UCLA women’s tennis team (8-5, 2-1 Pac-10), which fell 4-3 to crosstown rival No. 11 USC on Thursday afternoon in Westwood.

In front of the largest home crowd of the year, UCLA struggled to match the Trojan’s intensity during doubles, losing the crucial point to the Trojans (9-2, 3-0) after junior Zalameda and senior McGoodwin fell at Court 1, following a loss at Court 2 by freshman Yasmin Schnack and sophomore Ashley Joelson.

“I’m disappointed that we didn’t get the doubles point,” Coach Stella Sampras Webster said.

Gaining the doubles point has been a priority for Sampras Webster and the Bruins, who have mixed and matched players in order to discover an effective set for doubles competition.

“When you play teams like USC, you have to maintain a high level of play throughout the entire match,” Sampras Webster said.

The Bruins took that message to heart at the start of singles play, quickly capturing four of the opening sets, highlighted by Zalameda’s dominating 6-1 performance to take control over Trojan sophomore Lindsey Nelson, the nation’s No. 13-ranked singles player. But the lead wouldn’t last as Nelson began an emotional come-from-behind effort to take sets two and three. The clinching point of the third set was hotly debated by Zalameda and the large crowd, but the call stood and Nelson took the set.

“It shouldn’t get to that point,” Sampras Webster said when asked about the call. “We had chances; I don’t know what it is. (Not closing out matches) seems to be a pattern with our team.”

With the overall match still in the balance, junior Tracy Lin staged a valiant comeback at Court 2, only to fall ill in the third set. Lin, sustaining weakness, retired before the game could conclude, giving USC its fourth-straight win over the Bruins.

Sampras Webster was pleased with her team’s overall effort against a talented Trojan team, citing Schnack’s straight-set victory in singles.

“Every match we lost went to three sets,” Sampras Webster said. “We just have to maintain our intensity. The players that can do that are the players that win.”

For the first time this season, dozens of fans filed in and out of LATC, drawn by the free pizza and crosstown rivalry. It was an electric atmosphere, with fans cheering every hit and urging the Bruins against their rival.

“The girls loved it. It was great. That makes it fun to play, fun to compete, fun to coach,” Sampras Webster said of the home crowd, which included four men with “UCLA” painted across their chests.

The Bruins will get another shot against the Trojans on April 20 at USC.

“That’s the great thing about tennis. There’s always another match,” Sampras Webster said.

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