Stanford 6 UCLA 1
By Eric Perez
Daily Bruin Contributor
PALO ALTO “”mdash; The No. 7 UCLA women’s tennis team
headed into an almost packed Taube Family Tennis Stadium at
Stanford on Saturday knowing that they were going to face the No. 4
Cardinal, the defending national champions who have not lost on
their home courts since 1999.
The Bruins knew that, in order to realistically take this match
and beat a team that had four players ranked in the top twenty-five
in the nation, winning the doubles point was a must.
They did exactly that, and yet they still lost to the Cardinal
6-1.
The match had a promising beginning, with the doubles tandem of
sophomore Mariko Fritz-Krockow and senior Catherine Hawley notching
an 8-3 victory over Stanford’s tandem of Keiko Tokuda and
Story Tweedie-Yates. Fritz-Krockow and Hawley’s victory
produced an uncomfortable murmur from the Stanford crowd and the 20
or so that were for UCLA exalted.
The spectators turned their attention to court two where
UCLA’s doubles team of sophomore Lauren Fisher and freshman
Megan Bradley squared off against Lauren Barnikow and Erin
Burdette.
At one point Fisher/Bradley led 6-1 before dropping four
straight games to put the score at 6-5. Fisher and Bradley huddled
around head coach Stella Sampras to regroup, winning the next game
and eventually winning the match and the doubles point at 8-6.
Meanwhile, on court one, Sara Walker and Petya Marinova lost to
Lauren Kalvaria and Gabriela Lastra 8-4.
“We were so pumped up, especially after wining the doubles
point,” Walker said. “It just should have been a lot
closer than 6-1. You hate losing here, the fans are so rude and
arrogant.”
This is the academic institution from where the football chant,
“It’s alright, it’s okay, you’ll be working
for us someday,” thrives.
After defeating California 5-2 on Friday, a possible sweep of
the Bay Area teams seemed in sight.
But Stanford (18-1) became murderer’s row where every
player won the first set. Most surprising was No. 7 Walker’s
6-0, 6-3 loss to No. 18 Lastra.
“The girl (Lastra) played really well, I didn’t play
with the confidence that I usually do and she stepped up, made all
of her shots and she played exceptionally well today,” Walker
said.
No one played exceptionally well for UCLA (13-3) in the singles
component of the match. Fisher was defeated by No. 24 Burdette 6-3,
6-2. Then Hawley lost to Tokuda 6-3, 6-4.
No. 4 Bradley played a frustrating match where it seemed that
almost every other one of her returns crashed against her side of
the net or sailed out of bounds. She forced a third set, gutting
her way through the match, eventually losing to No. 10 Kalvaria
6-4, 2-6, 6-3. Marinova lost in three sets to No. 14 Barnikow 6-1,
4-6, 6-1. Fritz-Krockow also played into the third losing to
Anderson 6-3, 6-7, 6-3.
“We need to win those three setters,” Sampras said.
“We’re right there, we’ve have the talent we just
need to work harder and stay more disciplined. We are not staying
with our game. They are trying to end points too quick instead of
keeping the ball in play.”