Bruins face Women of Troy, reheat rivalry

EVE COHEN/Daily Bruin Sophomore Mariko
Fritz-Krockow

prepares to slam the ball last month.

By Eric Perez
Daily Bruin Contributor
[email protected]

The No. 5 UCLA women’s tennis squad will take on No. 11
USC at 11 o’clock this morning at Stanford University’s
Taube Family Tennis in the NCAA Tournament’s round of 16.

UCLA vs. USC.

Just the pairing of these two schools is enough to evoke emotion
from any and all athletes involved, but what happens when these two
schools meet up in the postseason?

“It’s just another team,” freshman Megan
Bradley said. “I think that in the NCAA championships
it’s just a matter of getting through to the next round and
being the winner at the end of the day.”

This year has new flavor added to the rivalry. The first annual
Lexus Gauntlet trophy is an award given to the school who, by a
point system, has the better year in head-to-head UCLA/USC
match-ups.

As it stands, USC leads UCLA 55-52.5. A USC victory clinches the
trophy for the Trojan faithful, whereas a UCLA victory will keep
the competition alive and the determination of the trophy will
carry over to the UCLA/USC baseball series next weekend.

“Anything that helps UCLA we’d love to do
that,” Bradley said. “But more importantly we are
worried about just getting through to the next round. Everything
after that is an added bonus.”

It is all too fitting that these two teams meet again in the
postseason.

In early February, then ranked No. 15 UCLA headed into an almost
packed Marks Tennis Stadium to take on then-No. 7 USC. Under almost
ridiculous fanfare, where the Trojan band played before the start
of the dual-match, free food was handed out, and the ‘SC
student body unleashed obscenity-laced tirades at the Bruin players
while they defeated the Women of Troy 5-2.

A month later, USC headed into the Los Angeles Tennis Center,
sans the excess. With the match tied at 3-3, and one match left to
determine the dual-match winner, freshman Sarah Gregg engaged
USC’s Anita Loyola in a third set tiebreak. With numerous
lead changes, Loyola eventually won 10-8, winning the match 7-5,
3-6, 7-6, and sealing the dual match in a mind blowing dramatic
fashion.

The attendance at the LATC grew as the drama heightened
throughout the match, and by the end of the final contest, most of
the spectators left shaking their heads knowing that they had
witnessed something that will go down indelibly into UCLA/USC
lore.

So the Bruins weekend will not lack for intrigue, whether
historical or corporate, because from here on out it will be only
do-or-die situations, and those playing the best will move on,
while the losers go home.

“I have confidence in the whole team that we are
definitely better than (USC),” Gregg said. “And when it
comes down to it, in a tough match, we are stronger than them
mentally.”