Wednesday, January 15, 1997
W. TENNIS:
Pacific 10 Indoor Championships to serve as important
preparation for 1997 season by showing strengths, weaknessesBy
Christie Debeau
Daily Bruin Contributor
Members of the UCLA women’s tennis team will be on the road
again, competing in Seattle today through Sunday at the Pacific 10
Indoor Championships.
Sophomore Kati Kocsis will be competing in flight one division
and will look to re-create last week’s championship at the
Milwaukee Tennis Classic. Accompanying Kocsis in flight one is
fellow Bruin, freshman Elizabeth Schmidt.
Playing in flight two are freshman Annica Cooper and junior
Kelly Rudolph.
Sophomores Brandi Freudenberg and Alyson Grey will be competing
in the flight three division.
In doubles competition, Cooper and Schmidt will pair in flight
one, Kocsis and Freudenberg in flight two, and Rudolph and Gray in
flight three.
Although it’s an individual tournament, it is an important one
for UCLA in preparation for the 1997 season.
"This is a tournament to see where our players compare to all
the others on the other teams," head coach Stella Sampras said.
"It’s just a good warm up for the season. The tournament is a
reference point of where players need to get better and what they
really need to do to beat these top players."
The six competing Bruins will be battling fierce opposition from
top players in the tournament.
"It’s going to be a strong tournament," Sampras said. "Our
conference is strong, so they are going to get tough matches right
away. There are no easy matches in this tournament."
The competition may be strong, but the success at the Milwaukee
tournament should boost Bruin confidence. In addition to Kocsis
winning the tournament title, Schmidt and Cooper both advanced to
the quarter finals.
"They will probably feel a lot more confident than players that
have not played a tournament," Sampras said. "They should be
feeling good."
JON FERREY
Elizabeth Schmidt will be one of six Bruins to
compete in the Pac-10 Indoor Championships in Seattle.