Early Pac-10 exit serves as wake-up call for women's tennis

Published: Monday, April 29, 1996

Monday, April 29, 1996

Upset-filled tourney ousts three-of-four Bruins in first roundBy Hye Kwon

Daily Bruin Staff

OJAI, Calif. Having entered the weekend with lofty goals and expectations, the UCLA women's tennis team had to settle for merely modest results at the Pacific 10 Championships here at Libbey Park.

If there was one thing the Bruins came away with at the end of this four-day tournament the last event before the NCAA Championships start in less than two weeks it was a confirmation that the team has work to do in the next twelve days of practice.

Things started ominously for UCLA on Thursday, when two of the three Bruins competing in the Pac-10 draw lost in the first round. Fourth-seeded Paige Yaroshuk won her match against Katherine Costain 6-1, 7-5, but her two teammates didn't fare as well. Freshman Brandi Freudenberg was forced to retire with an illness after losing the first set 6-0 to Eva Jiminez of USC.

"I think Brandi had a strep throat condition," UCLA assistant coach Stella Sampras said. "She wasn't feeling too well at all."

Then, the biggest shocker of the tournament unfolded in front of the Bruins' eyes when second-seeded Keri Phebus lost to the 73rd-ranked player in the nation. Arizona's Karen Goldstein, who appeared to hold the short end of the stick on paper, knocked Phebus out of contention with a 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 victory.

Yaroshuk followed suit the next day when she lost to the Trojans' Karolina Baklarova but, in the Bruins' defense, they weren't the only ones who turned in lackluster performances at Ojai. Top-seeded Wildcat Vicki Maes stumbled in the semifinals against Katy Propstra of Arizona State, losing the match 4-6, 7-5, 6-4.

With the seeded players dropping early, Julie Scott of Stanford grabbed her chance to shine by winning the championship final. Scott, who is normally the Cardinal's No. 5 player, garnered the honor by beating Baklarova 6-7, 6-1, 6-2.

While its performance in the Pac-10 singles draw was the source of the team's overall letdown, UCLA enjoyed success in the other draws in the following three days.

In the invitational bracket, Kelly Rudolph succeeded in reaching the championship finals after beating USC's Pam Tramp 2-6, 6-0, 6-3 in the semis. In Sunday morning's finals, however, Rudolph fell to Beth Berris 6-0, 6-1.

The two UCLA doubles teams also fared very well. The combination of Anicia Mendez and Rudolph reached the finals of the Invitational draw, where they suffered a 7-5, 7-6 defeat to Tunde Nagy and Marcia Senn of Washington State.

By far the most impressive performance turned in by UCLA during the four-day event was that of the Phebus/Yarosuk doubles tandem. The two reached the finals of the Pac-10 draw, where they met freshmen Francesca La'o and Amanda Augustus of California.

The feisty freshman duo kept the match close, but eventually fell 7-5, 6-4 to the experienced seniors.

For Phebus and Yaroshuk, who won the Pac-10 Indoor Tournament, Sunday's win completed a sweep of conference tournament doubles action.