W. tennis: Tennis outmatches Cal after fall to No.1 Stanford

Needing a morale boost after Friday’s loss to top-ranked
Stanford, the UCLA women’s tennis team instead found itself
on the verge of being swept.

The sixth-ranked Bruins trailed No. 10 California for much of
Saturday afternoon’s match before rallying to win three
straight matches to pull a 4-3 victory in their last regular season
match.

“We came from behind,” sophomore Laura Gordon said.
“That’s something we haven’t done in the
past.”

Facing a 3-1 deficit against the Bears (16-8, 4-4 Pac-10), UCLA
(16-7, 6-2) stormed back. Freshman Daniela Bercek, playing at No. 1
singles, and sophomore Jackie Carleton, playing at No. 2, each
pulled out three-set victories, leaving the outcome of the match on
junior Sarah Gregg’s shoulders.

With both teams huddled to watch Gregg face Catherine Lynch on
Court 3, there was immense pressure, anxiety and excitement.
Through all these emotions, Gregg prevailed in the third set,
winning 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-4.

“She handled the pressure,” Coach Stella Sampras
Webster said. “She is one of those players you can depend on
to always battle.”

The victory belied the Bruins’ struggles in the back half
of the lineup and in doubles.

UCLA, which had secured the doubles point against high-powered
Stanford on Friday, lost two of the three doubles matches against
Cal.

“Doubles is one of our strengths, but we came out
flat,” Sampras Webster said. “You can’t expect
(Cal) to just give it to you.”

The outlook on the back court singles matches wasn’t much
more promising, aside from Gordon’s easy 6-1, 6-1 victory at
the No. 5 position. Redshirt junior Lauren Fisher and sophomore
Nina Yaftali each lost in straight sets at the No. 4 and No. 6
positions.

UCLA actually played better against Stanford on Friday in spite
of its 5-2 loss. The Bruins trailed 3-2 and had a chance to win,
but neither Bercek nor Gregg could pull out the third set in their
matches.

Nonetheless, the Bruins played better than in their disastrous
7-0 loss to Stanford earlier this month. Stanford is considered the
favorite to win the national championship, so taking two matches
was something Sampras Webster believed her team should be proud
of.

“It was a positive day,” she said. “We were
all fired up. We’ve got to improve singles to beat the No. 1
team. You’ve got to play great, and that’s what we
strive for.”