When the UCLA women’s tennis team’s No. 1 singles
player, Daniela Bercek, succumbed to a shoulder injury Thursday,
she took UCLA’s tournament hopes with her.
The third-ranked Bruins fell victim to unseeded Miami in the
first round of the ITA National Women’s Team Indoor
Championships, ending their run at the title a lot sooner than they
had previously anticipated.
Bercek, who was recovering from a bout with the flu earlier in
the week, was forced to retire after she injured her shoulder
during her match against Miami’s Megan Bradley, a former
Bruin. Bercek fell behind 0-3 in the first set before conceding the
match.
The Bruins started out strong by capturing the doubles point,
but Bercek and teammate Riza Zalameda’s 8-4 loss to
Miami’s top tandem of Bradley and Audrey Banada foreshadowed
the team’s ultimate fate.
Along with Bercek’s singles loss, UCLA suffered two more
disappointing defeats as No. 3 Alex McGoodwin fell 7-6 (1), 6-3 to
Melissa Applebaum and No. 5 Tracy Lin lost 6-4, 6-3 to Patricia
Starzyk.
But all hope was not lost for the Bruins as No. 2 Zalameda
easily dispatched of Miami’s Staci Stevens in straight sets
6-1, 6-4, while No. 6 Laura Gordon defeated Emily Mowery 6-4,
6-3.
The final blow came in the No. 4 singles match when Banada broke
the two teams’ 3-3 tie with a 6-4, 7-6 (4) win over
UCLA’s Sarah Gregg. The win vaulted the Hurricanes to their
first quarterfinal appearance in the ITA National Women’s
Team Indoor Championships since 1989.
But the Bruins were not the lone upset victims of the day, with
No. 2 Georgia, No. 4 Northwestern and No. 7 Tulane also being sent
to the consolation rounds unexpectedly. Thursday marked the first
time in the tournament’s 18-year history that the No. 2 and
No. 3 teams have failed to advance past the first round.
The loss is the squad’s first blemish on its season
record, which now stands at 3-1, and will almost certainly have a
negative effect on the Bruins’ No. 4 national ranking.
UCLA will try to salvage a respectable finish in the first round
of the consolation tournament against Texas A&M today at 7 a.m.
Bercek’s status for the match is uncertain.