Cougars, Huskies no match for UCLA

UCLA d. WSU, 5-2 UCLA d. Washington, 4-3

By Brian Kiley
Daily Bruin Contributor

The play of sophomore Lauren Fisher on Friday was very
indicative of the play of the UCLA (15-3, 5-1) team as a whole in
its wins over Washington State and Washington this weekend.

At times, Fisher was brilliant, showing skillful command of a
variety of shots. At other times, she frustrated herself with
unforced errors.

Fortunately for Fisher and the Bruins, the good far outweighed
the bad in Fisher’s Friday match and the team match as a
whole, as she helped the Bruins to a 5-2 win with her gutsy 7-5,
3-6, 6-2 victory.

“It was important for (Fisher) to win that match because
she has struggled in the past after winning first sets,” UCLA
head coach Stella Sampras said. “It was good to see her be
able to get back on track and win the third (set).”

UCLA, who was without Petya Marinova for the weekend due to a
minor NCAA issue, found its strength at the top of the lineup
Friday against Washington State. After the team squeaked out the
doubles point with narrow wins in all three matches, the top three
singles players for the Bruins came out firing on all
cylinders.

Megan Bradley scattered precision ground strokes all over the
court in her 6-2, 6-1 win at the No. 1 singles slot against Erica
Perkins, and Sara Walker posted an identical score at No. 2, making
quick work of Stacy McKenna of WSU.

“I played confident and I felt like I played a very good
match,” Walker said.

Sarah Gregg, who returned to the lineup after missing a week due
to injury, didn’t show any signs of rust in a 6-3, 6-0 win at
the No. 3 position.

“I was moving better today,” Gregg said. “I
haven’t been able to move in practice, so I was a bit
nervous, but it was all right.”

The top three players sealed the win for the Bruins quickly, and
Fisher’s win gave them a fifth point. Catherine Hawley and
Mariko Fritz-Krockow were both defeated in close straight-set
matches to give WSU their only two points.

On Saturday the Bruins seized the momentum early against the
Huskies of Washington, grabbing the doubles point with two easy
wins.

Bradley and Fisher won 8-2 at the top spot, and Hawley and
Fritz-Krockow posted an 8-3 tally at the No. 3 doubles position.
Walker and Gregg added a 9-8 win to sweep the doubles.

“We’ve got good doubles players that have very good
skills to play doubles,” Sampras said. “From the start
(of the season) I knew our strength was doubles, and it’s
great to see them succeeding and winning matches.”

In singles play, Walker and Fritz-Krockow lost only three games
between them as they cruised to straight-set wins.

Bradley accounted for the fourth win, coming from behind to win
5-7, 6-2, 6-1.

The Huskies’ three wins came against Gregg, Fisher and
Hawley, and were not completed until the Bruins had clinched the
win.

UCLA is currently in second place in the Pac-10, and will host
Stanford and California next weekend.