UCLA
Stanford
Women's Tennis Team Drops Regular Season Finale
June 21, 1999 | Women's Tennis
April 17, 1999
LOS ANGELES - In the final dual match of the regular-season, the No. 4 ranked UCLA women's tennis team suffered its second loss of the weekend. This time it was No. 5 ranked Stanford who claimed the 7-2 victory in the Pac-10 Conference match at the Los Angeles Tennis Center. Today's loss marks the second of the season to the Cardinal who also defeated UCLA 7-1 at Stanford on April 2. The injury depleted Bruins finish the regular-season 17-7 overall and 5-3 in Pac-10 Conference action, while Stanford improves to 22-2 overall and 8-0 in league play.
Although the Bruins were also without No. 13 ranked Cristina Popescu (who has been sidelined with injuries since March 3) in the first meeting between these two teams earlier this month, it was the loss of two more players to injuries which resulted in lineup changes leaving just two of today's match-ups the same as the earlier meeting and UCLA won both of those. The Stanford lineup was identical for the first five positions, but sophomore Sarah Pestieau stepped into the No. 6 singles and No. 3 doubles slots. UCLA played without then-No. 3 Katia Roubanova and also then-No. 6 Petya Marinova in today's singles action.
Stanford claimed straight-set victories in the first four singles matches to finish, but UCLA claimed wins in the top-two slots to force the match into doubles play. UCLA's Annica Cooper gave the Bruins their first point of the day as the No. 18 ranked player in the nation upset No. 2 ranked Marissa Irvin in the top-slot. Today's win by Cooper avenged two earlier straight-set losses to Irvin this season as the two met in the semifinals of a tournament in January and again in the dual match at Stanford April 2.
The match-up on court No. 2 was the fourth meeting between UCLA's Amanda Basica and Stanford's Teryn Ashley this season. Ashley won the first two tournament meetings in straight sets, but Basica posted a straight-set win of her own in the latest meeting at Stanford and registered another upset this time. Despite being tied for No. 96 in the latest national rankings, Basica went the distance for another win over No. 4 ranked Ashley. In today's meeting, Ashley won the first-set tiebreaker, but Basica rallied to claim the second set 6-1 and battled to a 6-4 win in the third to send the match into doubles.
Stanford claimed victories on all three courts in doubles play, clinching the team victory with a win on court No. 3. Even though the team victor had been determined the match on court No. 1 was important as it featured the No. 2 and No. 6 ranked doubles teams in the nation. UCLA's duo of Basica and Cooper jumped out to a 5-3 lead, but Stanford's tandem of Ashley and Irvin recovered and avoided the upset with an 8-6 win.
Both teams' next competition will be at the Pac-10 Conference Championships in Ojai, where individuals will compete for singles and doubles titles April 22- 25.
Singles
No. 1 (18) Annica Cooper (UCLA) d. (2) Marissa Irvin (Stan) 7-5, 5-7, 6-0 No. 2 (t96) Amanda Basica (UCLA) d. (4) Teryn Ashley (Stan) 6-7(4), 6-1, 6-4 No. 3 (t81) Gabriala Lastra (Stan) d. Brandi Freudenberg (UCLA) 6-2, 6-3 No. 4 Lauren Kalvaria (Stan) d. Elizabeth Schmidt (UCLA) 6-4, 6-1 No. 5 (t59) Jennifer Heiser (Stan) d. Rochelle Raiss (UCLA) 6-3, 6-2 No. 6 Sarah Pestieau (Stan) d. Jennifer Donahue (UCLA) 6-1, 6-0Doubles
No. 1 (2) Ashley/Irvin (Stan) d. (6) Cooper/Basica (UCLA) 8-6 No. 2 (26) Kalvaria/Lastra (Stan) d. Freudenberg/Schmidt (UCLA) 8-4 No. 3 Heiser/Pestieau (Stan) d. Petya Marinova/Raiss (UCLA) 8-2
Final Team Score: Stanford 7, UCLA 2
