W. tennis focused on Pac-10s
By Chris Isidro
Although no team titles are at stake when the UCLA women hit the
tennis courts today at the Pac-10 Championships, the Bruins hope to
start the post-season differently than they ended the regular
year.
Sixth-ranked UCLA will enter four players in the field of 32 in
Ojai. Although the Bruins finished fourth in conference play, a
solid performance in the tournament will swing the momentum with
the NCAA Championships just around the corner.
"We just need to play a lot of sets," head coach Bill Zaima
said. "I would like to work our injured players back in and just
keep everyone else sharp."
Keri Phebus, No. 2 in the nation, heads the Bruin lineup.
Entering the weekend with a 17-match winning streak, Phebus is the
top seed after going a perfect 8-0 in Pac-10 dual match play and
winning the top flight of the conference indoor championships in
January.
Phebus will have an easy ride until the third round when she
faces a possible encounter with sixth-seeded Jennifer Poulos of
California, who took the Bruin junior to three sets earlier in the
season.
UCLA is also looking for a strong performance from junior Paige
Yaroshuk. The Bruin captain struggled in dual matches, going 9-11
mostly from the No. 3 position.
"It seems that No. 1 and 2 (singles) are always givens and we
just need one more match," Yaroshuk said after her loss to Stanford
on Sunday. "Hopefully, when it counts, I’ll do it."
Yaroshuk will need to up her play to survive her part of the
draw as No. 5 seed Reka Cseresynes is her probable second round
opponent and 12th-ranked Katie Schlukebir also lingers in that
quarter of the brackets.
Anicia Mendez and Diana Spadea round out the UCLA contingent.
USC’s Melissa Hernando will face Mendez in a rematch of their
earlier three-set battle. Spadea has an even tougher road with Amy
Chiminello, who won in straight sets in their last meeting.
Freshman Kelly Rudolph will see action in the invitational
classification of the Ojai Valley Tournament, also held in the same
venue. While Rudolph has seen two weeks worth of action since
returning from an injured knee, Zaima believes that Rudolph would
benefit more from a relaxed weekend of tennis.