Bruins paddle Waves to claim tough match

Thursday, February 4, 1999

Bruins paddle Waves to claim tough match

Endurance, strength deciding factors in victory vs.
Pepperdine

By Audrey Jing

Daily Bruin Contributor

The No. 8 UCLA women’s tennis team paddled into some pretty
tough Waves in Tuesday’s contest against No. 15 Pepperdine. It rode
out with a 5-1 victory, extending its winning streak to 5-0 in dual
matches.

Pepperdine (3-1) tested the UCLA singles lineup, extending four
of six Bruins to three-set matches. The Waves weren’t able to keep
up with the well-conditioned Bruin team and only managed to muster
up one singles win to become UCLA’s fifth victim to fall before
doubles action could begin.

"I don’t think we played great, but we played hard," UCLA coach
Stella Sampras said. "Pepperdine’s a talented team. I think our
players just hung in there, stuck to their game plans, and just
worked their butts off. That’s how we won."

UCLA struggled a bit in its first dual match away from home.
Both No. 1 Cristina Popescu and No. 2 Annica Cooper dropped their
first sets before fighting back to take sets two and three. Popescu
defeated Angela Lawrence 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 while Cooper took down Ipek
Sengolu 5-7, 6-4, 6-1.

"Everyone played well in the third set," senior Brandi
Freudenberg said. "It tells you we’re a really fit team. Everyone
just gave it their all and came up with a victory."

No. 3 Amanda Basica was the only Bruin to win in straight sets,
breezing through a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Anh Nguyen. Freudenberg
relied on pure heart to grind out a 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 win over Nicola
Kaiwai in the No. 4 position. Freshman Petya Marinova once again
stepped up at No. 5, defeating Nadine Rastetter 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.

"I started out strong, struggled in the second set, but came
back in the third to win it," Freudenberg said. "I wasn’t playing
my best tennis, but I had more heart than she did. I think I beat
her because I wanted it more in the end."

Pepperdine’s only point of the day came from Cintia Tortorella’s
7-5, 6-1 win over UCLA freshman Rochelle Raiss.

After the Bruins took care of the match in singles, both teams
opted to rest their players and skip doubles play.

"It’s very impressive to beat this team in singles," Sampras
said. "We’re strong in doubles, but it’s great to win it in singles
against a team that is ranked in the top 20 in the country. It was
a great effort."

After playing three matches this past week, the Bruins have a
break from dual matches before their Feb. 13 contest against
USC.

In the meantime, three Bruins will take the court today at the
Rolex Nationals in Dallas, Tex. Popescu will throw her hat into the
singles ring, while Cooper and Basica are scheduled to compete in
doubles.

"Cristina is playing well," Sampras said. "It will be a great
opportunity for her to play some players from outside our region
and see what the rest of the country looks like."

Basica and Cooper take on the nation after coming off a
successful fall season. The No. 12 ranked team won the ITA Regional
Tournament in November and post a 5-0 record in dual matches.
GENEVIEVE LIANG/Daily Bruin Senior Staff

Amanda Basica returns a volley in a game against Arizona.

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