UCLA women’s tennis takes second loss of season
Senior Yasmin Schnack and the No. 2 Bruins could not hold on in their match against No. 9 Baylor, losing 4-3 to the Bears at the Los Angeles Tennis Center on Wednesday.
By Rebecca Lee
March 10, 2010 10:50 p.m.
For the first time since the National Team Indoors Championships, the UCLA women’s tennis team has hit a bump in the road.
In their second match in as many days, the No. 2 Bruins (14-2) were edged out by No. 9 Baylor, 4-3 at the Los Angeles Tennis Center Wednesday.
The Bruins nabbed the doubles point in dominating fashion when the tandem junior Noelle Hickey and sophomore Nina Pantic as well as the No. 4 doubles team in the nation of junior Andrea Remynse and senior Yasmin Schnack won their respective matches 8-1.
Freshman Pamela Montez and sophomore Carling Seguso allowed a 8-6 Baylor win.
“I’m really excited about how our doubles is developing,” coach Stella Sampras Webster said.
However, the visiting Bears held their ground in singles play and took the three first sets.
“(The Bears are) always just tough competitors,” Schnack said. “They’re not going to just give it to you like some other teams that have gotten down when you get ahead. They always just kept fighting, they never give you any free points. It’s hard when you play against people like that.”
Baylor equalized the score when UCLA freshman Stephanie Hoffpauir was defeated by Baylor’s Karolina Filipiak, 6-0, 6-4.
UCLA climbed ahead briefly with a straight-set victory by Maya Johansson.
But the Bruins lost three matches in a row to give the Bears the victory.
The top three players on the Bruin lineup were unable to hold on as Remynse, Schnack and Hickey lost their respective matches.
“Our singles, we competed well, and there were moments where we were exposed a little bit, and it got a little tight,” Sampras Webster said. “In the face of adversity we lost our composure a little bit and let players in the match.”
Montez beat Baylor’s Csilla Corsanyi, 6-2, 7-5, after the outcome of the match was decided.
Sampras Webster said that she wants to make sure that the team learns from this loss.
“We just don’t want our team to lose their confidence having that loss, just keep believing in themselves,” she said.
“We have to make some adjustments. This team has a lot of room to grow, and we want us to continue that.”
On Tuesday, the Bruins defeated No. 37 Pepperdine (4-9) at home, 6-1.
After the Bruins swept all three doubles contests, they moved within a point of clinching the match with two straight-set victories in singles competition.
Remynse defeated Pepperdine’s Ali Walters, 6-2, 6-0, and Montez overcame the Waves’ Marie Zalameda, 6-1, 6-2.
Four Waves singles players battled back to capture the second set before senior Schnack won the third set in her match against Pepperdine’s Arianna Colffer, 6-1, 5-7, 6-1, to help UCLA clinch the match.
The Bruins surrendered a point when sophomore Nina Pantic lost to Pepperdine’s Tania Rice, 3-6, 7-5, 6-4.
The Bruins will have a two week break from competition before they host Washington State on March 26.
“I think it’s a good time for them to take a break from tennis,” Sampras Webster said. “We’ve gone a long stretch of playing some high level tennis, which is great, but I think they’re ready for a little break.
“I think we’re going to use these two weeks to look at them individually and figure out the way they can improve their game as individuals but also as a team, how this team is going to grow together and be a team that will contend for a national championship.”
