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USC match a repeat of win against Cal

By Jason Wang

March 3, 2010 9:36 p.m.

No, this is not a rehash of last Sunday’s results against Cal.

For the second match in a row, the UCLA women’s tennis team played a marathon-length match that came down to UCLA junior Andrea Remynse, as the No. 4 Bruins defeated rival No. 12 USC 4-3 at Marks Tennis Stadium on Wednesday.

Remynse, the No. 34 singles player in the country, faced USC’s Danielle Lao in the deciding battle of Wednesday’s rival match, and coach Stella Sampras Webster has noticed the strong confidence of Remynse, which has grown over the season and was brightly evident in her game-winning match against then-No. 3 Cal.

“The Cal win was huge for Andrea … that definitely helped her against ‘SC,” Sampras Webster said. “Just knowing that she’s been there, she’s done it and that she believes she can win the match. She just maintained great composure under great pressure.”

Remynse’s win helped lift the Bruins (12-1) to their tenth win in Los Angeles this season, with nine wins coming at the Los Angeles Tennis Center and this one at Marks Stadium.

“This is definitely a huge win. It’s tough to play against USC,” Sampras Webster said. “Every time we play ‘SC, we can take the rankings and past results out. Neither team wants to lose and everybody is just fighting for the win. We came out on top today, but ‘SC definitely made us work.”

The Bruins had to work hard after giving up an early lead to the Women of Troy. UCLA started strong by securing the doubles point with wins from the tandems of Remynse and senior Yasmin Schnack, the No. 4 doubles pair in the country, and junior Noelle Hickey with sophomore Nina Pantic.

From the bottom half of the lineup, freshman Pamela Montez and junior Maya Johansson won their respective matches in straight sets while freshman Stephanie Hoffpauir lost a close one, giving the Bruins a 3-1 advantage. But then a pair of rare losses from Schnack and Hickey evened the score.

“Anything can happen when you play USC,” Remynse said. “We won the doubles pretty handily and five of the six first singles sets. But they fought really hard, came back and had us on the ropes.”

Remynse was there to bail out the Bruins with a 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 win, a match that ended long after the others. Though Remynse was the hero once again, she said having confidence in the entire team helped everyone.

“It’s great knowing when you’re on the court that your teammates will perform well. You know that, even though you’re focusing on your court only, you’re going to do well, too.”

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