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Early Pac-10 exit serves as wake-up call for women’s tennis

By Daily Bruin Staff

April 28, 1996 9:00 p.m.

Monday, April 29, 1996

Upset-filled tourney ousts three-of-four Bruins in first roundBy
Hye Kwon

Daily Bruin Staff

OJAI, Calif. ­ Having entered the weekend with lofty goals
and expectations, the UCLA women’s tennis team had to settle for
merely modest results at the Pacific 10 Championships here at
Libbey Park.

If there was one thing the Bruins came away with at the end of
this four-day tournament ­ the last event before the NCAA
Championships start in less than two weeks ­ it was a
confirmation that the team has work to do in the next twelve days
of practice.

Things started ominously for UCLA on Thursday, when two of the
three Bruins competing in the Pac-10 draw lost in the first round.
Fourth-seeded Paige Yaroshuk won her match against Katherine
Costain 6-1, 7-5, but her two teammates didn’t fare as well.
Freshman Brandi Freudenberg was forced to retire with an illness
after losing the first set 6-0 to Eva Jiminez of USC.

"I think Brandi had a strep throat condition," UCLA assistant
coach Stella Sampras said. "She wasn’t feeling too well at
all."

Then, the biggest shocker of the tournament unfolded in front of
the Bruins’ eyes when second-seeded Keri Phebus lost to the
73rd-ranked player in the nation. Arizona’s Karen Goldstein, who
appeared to hold the short end of the stick on paper, knocked
Phebus out of contention with a 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 victory.

Yaroshuk followed suit the next day when she lost to the
Trojans’ Karolina Baklarova but, in the Bruins’ defense, they
weren’t the only ones who turned in lackluster performances at
Ojai. Top-seeded Wildcat Vicki Maes stumbled in the semifinals
against Katy Propstra of Arizona State, losing the match 4-6, 7-5,
6-4.

With the seeded players dropping early, Julie Scott of Stanford
grabbed her chance to shine by winning the championship final.
Scott, who is normally the Cardinal’s No. 5 player, garnered the
honor by beating Baklarova 6-7, 6-1, 6-2.

While its performance in the Pac-10 singles draw was the source
of the team’s overall letdown, UCLA enjoyed success in the other
draws in the following three days.

In the invitational bracket, Kelly Rudolph succeeded in reaching
the championship finals after beating USC’s Pam Tramp 2-6, 6-0, 6-3
in the semis. In Sunday morning’s finals, however, Rudolph fell to
Beth Berris 6-0, 6-1.

The two UCLA doubles teams also fared very well. The combination
of Anicia Mendez and Rudolph reached the finals of the Invitational
draw, where they suffered a 7-5, 7-6 defeat to Tunde Nagy and
Marcia Senn of Washington State.

By far the most impressive performance turned in by UCLA during
the four-day event was that of the Phebus/Yarosuk doubles tandem.
The two reached the finals of the Pac-10 draw, where they met
freshmen Francesca La’o and Amanda Augustus of California.

The feisty freshman duo kept the match close, but eventually
fell 7-5, 6-4 to the experienced seniors.

For Phebus and Yaroshuk, who won the Pac-10 Indoor Tournament,
Sunday’s win completed a sweep of conference tournament doubles
action.

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