Bruins to vie for singles, doubles titles at tourney

Thursday, April 23, 1998

Bruins to vie for singles, doubles titles at tourney

WTENNIS: Individual players have good shot at Pac-10
championships

By Jeff Kmiotek

Daily Bruin Contributor

The regular season concluded Saturday on a sour note, but today
is a new beginning for six members of the UCLA women’s tennis
team.

These players will be competing for medals in singles and
doubles matches at the Pac-10 tennis championships in Ojai, Calif.
The tourney, which is part of the 98th Ojai Valley Tennis
Tournament, kicks off today at 8:00 a.m and concludes with the
finals on Sunday.

The Bruins’ Elizabeth Schmidt, whose recent hot streak has
vaulted her to No. 73 in the national rankings, will have the
toughest task in the singles bracket. Schmidt drew No. 6 Julie
Scott of Stanford, who has won the singles championship the past
two years.

But this first-round match certainly won’t be a walk in the park
for Scott, who is 21-3 overall and 11-2 in Pac-10 play. Schmidt’s
great work ethic has led her to seven wins in her last eight
matches, including a victory over Scott’s teammate and then No. 13
Teryn Ashley.

UCLA’s Annica Cooper, the second-best player in the bracket,
should breeze to the quarterfinals. The top player she could meet
in the first three rounds is Betsy Miringoff of the Arizona
Wildcats, ranked 40th in the country.

Brandi Freudenberg and Kelly Rudolph will also be representing
the Bruins in the singles 32-woman draw. In the opening round,
Freudenberg will match up against No. 47 Alina Wygonowska of
Oregon, who upset Annica Cooper when the teams met on April 12.
Rudolph will take on Cal’s Claire Curran, currently ranked
59th.

UCLA has two teams that will vie for the doubles crown in Ojai.
Fearless freshman and No. 31 Christina Popescu will team up with
Schmidt to form a deadly duo against an unranked twosome from
Washington State.

Katia Roubanova and Cooper join forces as well versus a pair of
Arizona Wildcats. Roubanova and Cooper are coming off a big doubles
win at Stanford last week.

The Cardinal has to be considered the favorite at this
tournament, but UCLA will definitely have its eye on a trophy in
Ojai.