Bruins prevail over Trojans at NCAA

By Brian Kiley
Daily Bruin Contributor
[email protected]

PALO ALTO “”mdash; It all starts with doubles, literally.

In Thursday’s 4-1 victory over No. 10 seed USC (19-8) in
the round of 16 of the NCAA tournament, the No. 7 seed Bruins
(19-4), one of the top doubles playing teams in the country, got
the start they needed from their doubles teams.

“We really stuck together,” said Sara Walker, who
partners with Petya Marinova to form the No. 4 doubles team in the
nation. “We had a lot of energy, and we wanted it so bad that
we won it.”

Marinova and Walker clinched the doubles point for UCLA with an
8-6 win. That followed an 8-3 win at the number two spot by Megan
Bradley and Lauren Fisher. Bradley and Fisher had trailed 1-3, but
dominated the next seven games to get the victory.

“We were really happy to win the doubles point, it took
the pressure off of us a little bit,” UCLA head coach Stella
Sampras said. “I knew that every singles match was going to
be tight.”

Singles play was exactly what Sampras expected it to be, with
five of the six matches very hotly contested. The lone exception
was Walker’s match at the No. 2 spot. She continued her
dominating singles play with a quick 6-1, 6-2 romp over Luana
Magnani, avenging a three-set loss she suffered against Magnani
earlier this year.

“I’ve been working really hard, and everything is
coming together for me right now,” Walker said.
“I’m excited that I’m playing so well.”

Senior co-captain Catherine Hawley was the next Bruin off the
court, besting Melissa Esmero 6-4, 7-5. The clinching victory came
from Lauren Fisher, who was able to ride her emotional
roller-coaster to a comeback 2-6, 6-1, 7-5 triumph over Tiffany
Brymer.

“I played her twice (in the regular season) and
didn’t beat her,” Fisher said. “It is really
exciting for me to beat her in the biggest tournament of the
year.”

Bradley, the No. 3 player in the country, struggled against
Jewel Peterson. Bradley had difficulty getting her first serve in,
and Peterson controlled the baseline on her way to a 7-5, 1-6, 6-2
win to give the Women of Troy their only point.

“That was as bad as I’ve played in a long
time,” Bradley said of her first singles loss in nearly a
month. “Definitely my worst match of the season.”

Several Bruins were banged up following yesterday’s match,
though most players were just suffering from post-match soreness.
Sarah Gregg, however, had to be taken to the trainers tent
immediately following yesterday’s match due to heat
exhaustion.

“At 4-1 in the second set I became light headed,”
Gregg said. “I could have grinded it out, but had it gone to
a third set it would have been a different story.” Gregg, who
was leading 7-6 (8-6), 4-4 when UCLA clinched the match, expects to
be at 100 percent for today’s match.

The entire team will need to be at full strength today for UCLA
to have a chance to advance to the national semifinals. They face
No. 2 Georgia in their quarterfinal match at 8 a.m. today at the
Taube Family Tennis Stadium. The Bulldogs are coming off an
exciting 4-1 win over No. 15 seed Cal Thursday.

Georgia boasts an overall record of 25-1, with wins over No. 1
Florida and No. 3 Stanford. The two teams did not meet during the
regular season, but the Bulldogs know that the Bruins will give
them a run for their money.

“We expect to face a great team; UCLA had an awesome
year,” Georgia head coach Jeff Wallace said. “It should
be a hard-fought, competitive match.”

The SEC champs and 2001 NCAA semifinalists are heavily favored
to reach Saturday’s national semifinals, but are disciplined
enough to know that they have to focus on Bradley and company
before they can think about anything else.

“If anybody starts looking past anybody they’re
going home quick,” Wallace said. “Everybody here is
good, and any match can go any way.”