W. tennis: First serve

It’s the middle of May and the beginning of the 2004 NCAA
Regionals, but this weekend might just have more of a January
feeling to it for the UCLA women’s tennis team.

With both Long Beach State and Pepperdine in town for the
tournament, the Bruins could potentially face two schools that know
their way to Los Angeles Tennis Center by heart now. But as
accustomed as those teams have become to making the drive to
Westwood, they have rarely gotten a taste of winning once
they’ve arrived.

The 49ers, the Bruins’ opponent today, have not tallied a
win in the two teams’ 27 meetings, their most recent loss a
7-0 shutout last January.

Pepperdine, who the Bruins would meet should both teams win
their first rounds, has won only 12 out of 49 times.

Those 12 wins are distant memories as far as the current squads
are concerned. The Bruins have defeated the Waves in each of their
five meetings over the past two seasons, including last
year’s 4-1 win in the second round of the tournament.

“We know them really well,” coach Stella Sampras
Webster said.

The weekend looks astoundingly similar to some of the home
matches on the Bruins schedule early in the year tuning up for the
more rigorous conference season.

The obvious difference of course, is that a loss this weekend
ends the season. The Bruins will thus approach these two matches as
an important preparation for the following rounds in Athens,
Ga.

“The main thing is to focus on regionals and get the
adrenaline going for Georgia,” Sarah Gregg said.

Even if the possibility of losing appears remote for the Bruins,
they maintain they won’t look to just casually cruise through
the first two rounds.

“These are good early matches,” Sampras Webster
said. “They will make us play and work our way into the
tournament.”

While the Bruins won’t find the 49ers’ level of
talent anywhere in the tournament’s later rounds, the
team’s second-round match could provide some challenging
tests.

Should the Bruins meet the Waves for a third time this season,
Daniela Bercek will look to do something teammate Jackie Carleton
couldn’t ““ defeat Natalie Braverman at the top spot.
The 27th-ranked sophomore captured two of the only three points the
Waves picked up against the Bruins in their two previous
matches.

But a rematch is far from penciled in, as the Waves need to get
by No. 18 BYU in the first round. The Cougars picked up a 4-3 win
over fifth-ranked Clemson during the regular season, legitimizing
themselves in a sport where the elite are concentrated on the West
Coast and Southeastern region of the country.

Their relative obscurity is one reason some Bruins would prefer
the familiarity of the Waves.

“I’d rather play Pepperdine because we know what to
expect,” Gregg said.

But it’s not as if the players will be holding their
breaths hoping the Cougars fall. If anything, it will be the
Cougars and Waves hoping for some sort of miracle from the
49ers.

But in 27 tries, it hasn’t happened. Today isn’t
expected to be any different.

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