W. tennis second at NCAA indoor tourney

W. tennis second at NCAA indoor tourney

Bruins fall, 5-4, to No. 1 Georgia in tournament final

By Chris Isidro

The UCLA women’s tennis team placed a hard-earned second at the
National Team Indoor Championships in Madison, Wisc. After
negotiating past No. 3 Stanford and No. 17 Arizona, the Bruins were
rewarded with a finals appearance against top-ranked Georgia.

"It took a lot out of us, both mentally and physically," team
captain Paige Yaroshuk said.

No Bruin was more sapped than Yaroshuk, who suffered two
gut-wrenching defeats against the Bulldogs, who won the team title,
5-4, over UCLA. The Bruin netter dropped the third set tiebreaker,
7-5, to Bulldog Anne Chauzu and lost an opportunity to give UCLA a
comfortable 4-2 lead with three matches remaining.

"When I was out there playing my singles match, I didn’t feel
like everything was riding on my shoulders," she said. "It didn’t
hit me until after the match."

It was an especially difficult defeat because it was Yaroshuk’s
third of four singles matches in Madison. In the first set, the
Bruin junior controlled the match, winning 6-2. But as the second
set slipped from Yaroshuk’s grasp, so did her composure.

"If Paige played the rest of her match like she did the first
set, when she played with a calm, poised demeanor, we’d have
ourselves a No. 3 player," head coach Bill Zaima said. "It depends
on technique and when she gets rattled, her technique breaks
down."

Zaima said Yaroshuk’s fiery nature on the court sometimes
hinders her play.

"Great competitiveness can get in the way of great play," he
said. "She needs to channel her fire toward winning and do the
things we work on in practice."

* * *

Yaroshuk later teamed with freshman Kelly Rudolph to battle No.
18 Jane Reid and Lisa Salvatierra at No. 3 doubles. But after
Georgia and UCLA split the other two doubles matches in straight
sets, the last doubles match became the most important.

Fluid accumulated in Rudolph’s left knee, reducing the
freshman’s lateral mobility. That did not stop Rudolph from hitting
a forehand down the line to go back on serve 5-4 in the third set
before ultimately succumbing, 7-5.

"Kelly showed a lot of poise and gave a remarkable effort,"
Yaroshuk said. "It was just so close, but I think we played the
best we could."

* * *

UCLA went to Madison looking to win the whole thing. However,
the seeding committee saw things differently. Despite sweeping the
finals of the Rolex Indoor Nationals and boasting six players in
the top 100, the No. 7 Bruins were not granted a seed in the
tournament.

"It really concerns me about the East Coast bias in the polls,"
Zaima said. "They ought to go by the results rather than just do a
popularity poll."

The tourney featured 14 of the top 20 teams in the nation, and
without the benefit of a seed, the Bruins drew Stanford in the
second round.

"Us not having a seed forced us to play one more tough match
than we should have," Zaima said.

The Duke-Pepperdine first round match especially agitated the
Bruin head coach. Seeded No. 3, Duke did not bother fielding a
complete squad, defaulting at No. 5 and 6 singles.

"That match was such a joke," he said. "Pepperdine was going to
default No. 6 singles but at least they were wise enough to put a
name down and take the point. Duke should have been a little more
up front with the tournament."

* * *

For the first time in many years, the Bruins are confident that
a national championship is within their grasp. After taking the No.
1 team to the final match, they believe they can win it all.

"In this sport, if you can’t win as a team, individual goals
become important," Zaima said. "But we think we can win and the
team goal is paramount."