[Online Exclusive] W. tennis: Women’s tennis battles cold, rain to dominate ASU

The sun had set, the Los Angeles Tennis Center lights were
turned on, the rain had finally ceased. At long last, the Bruins
were ready to dominate.

UCLA fought through a three and one-half hour weather delay to
defeat Arizona State 5-1 Friday evening. Though the wait was long,
it did not faze the Bruins. They still came out strong with the
desire to win the match as quickly as possible.

“I was really proud of my players,” UCLA coach
Stella Sampras Webster said. “It was tough coming out in the
cold, under the lights. But they never complained and they took
care of business.”

The No. 8 Bruins (5-3) were hoping to earn the victory in
singles play without having to rely on their doubles. The singles
went on the courts first with the intention doubles play would only
happen if necessary.

“We came into it with a mission to come and finish the
match before doubles play,” Sampras Webster said.

In the end, doubles play was not needed as the Bruins defeated
the No. 18 Sun Devils (2-2) in five of their six singles
matches.

Sophomore Feriel Esseghir provided some of the highlights for
UCLA.

Esseghir came back from a 2-5 down to win the first set 7-6. She
then cruised through the second set with a 6-0 victory.

Said Coach Sampras Webster of Esseghir’s play, “She
came out kind of slow. She knew she needed to raise her level and
she did.”

In contrast to Esseghir’s difficult first set,
UCLA’s other four victories came with more ease. Sophomore
Jackie Carleton dominated 6-1, 6-0. Freshman Daniela Bercek won
6-2, 6-0. Junior Sarah Gregg and Sophomore Laura Gordon both won
6-2, 6-1.

The only disappointment of the match was Lauren Fisher’s
2-6, 1-6 loss to ASU’s Cindy Sureephong. Overall, however,
the team excelled.

“The team was really focused and played solid. We played
how we wanted to play.” Gregg said.

The Bruins withstood the unpredictability of a youthful ASU
squad and the rain delay to win the match convincingly.
Unfortunately, the rain did not die down on Saturday to allow the
Bruins to begin their match against No. 34 Arizona.

Since the match does not count in the Pac-10 standings, it may
not be rescheduled.