Bruin digest
By Daily Bruin Staff
June 1, 2004 9:00 p.m.
Daniela Bercek and Lauren
Fisher captured the NCAA Doubles Championship on Saturday.
The UCLA duo defeated Jessica Johnson and
Ashley Kroh of Marshell 6-4, 6-4 in the final in
Athens, Ga. Bercek and Fisher, who were unseeded in the 32-team
tournament, gave UCLA the all-time lead in NCAA Doubles Team
Championships with five, one ahead of California, Florida and
Stanford. It is UCLA’s first since 1996. “I am just so
happy that we were able to have pulled through this thing,”
Fisher said in a press conference after the match. “I was
really looking forward to this match. It wasn’t fun sitting
out last year (due to elbow surgery), and after getting here in
2002, I was anxious to get back.” This was the second doubles
finals for Fisher, who along with partner Megan
Bradley made it to the championship in 2002, but fell to a
team from Stanford. It was Bercek’s first doubles
championship experience. The freshman had to overcome a hamstring
injury en route to the victory. “I am glad I was able to pull
through for (Fisher),” Bercek said in a press conference
after the match. “We get along great. After I saw how we
played in the first match of the tournament, I knew that we would
do very well and that we had a shot to win it.” The
duo’s championship followed UCLA’s second-place finish
to champion Stanford in the overall team tournament.
MEN’S TENNIS: Alberto Francis and
Kris Kwinta fell in the quarterfinals of the NCAA
Doubles Championships on Saturday. The two Bruins lost to
Zolton Csandi and Izak van der
Merwe of Old Dominion 6-1, 6-2 on Saturday in Tulsa, Okla.
Francis and Kwinta advanced the furthest of any Bruins in the
tournament. Chris Lam, the only UCLA singles
competitor, fell in the first round last Wednesday. The tournament
followed UCLA’s second-place finish to champion Baylor in the
NCAA Team Tournament.
Compiled by Ben Peters, Bruin sports senior staff.
