Tennis anyone? NCAAs next for Bruin netters

Published: Friday, May 12, 1995

Slumping w. tennis, now

healthy, takes on Wake

Forest in NCAA opener

By Chris Isidro

The UCLA women's tennis team began the road to its first NCAA Championship at the Riviera Country Club for the 1994 All-American Tournament. Seven months later and 10 miles down the road in Pepperdine, the journey is almost complete.

The fourth-ranked Bruins (15-8), who enjoy a first-round bye, take on No. 9 Wake Forest (21-4) in their opening match at the NCAA tournament today at 3 p.m. Health will be a big issue this weekend, especially for a UCLA squad that limped through the last three weeks of the season and dropped six of its last seven matches.

"The team is in the best physical shape it has been in the last month," UCLA head coach Bill Zaima said at the pre-tournament press conference. "Tennis is an extremely demanding sport on the body and certainly not a sport for the timid."

These next five days are not for the meek of heart either. Should the Bruins get by the Demon Deacons, Stanford (20-2) looms in the quarterfinals. The Cardinal took two of three meetings earlier this season and have a seasoned group of players in the lineup.

"Our team is healthy and the younger players on the roster have shown tremendous development during the year," Stanford coach Frank Brennan said.

But Wake Forest will be more than just a patsy in the opening round. The Demon Deacons won the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season title and only failed to take the conference tournament when No. 8 Duke pulled the upset in the finals.

Wake Forest is led by No. 52 Terry Ann Zawacki and a core of three other players in the Top 100. The Bruins will rely on their two stalwarts, top-ranked Jane Chi and No. 2 Keri Phebus.

"Phebus will play at one and Chi at two," Zaima said. "The difference in talent is really minimal as they are both outstanding players."

Though the Bruins have experienced troubles in the tournament of late, losing in the second round twice in the last two years, Zaima hopes that playing on the West Coast will bring back the glory days when UCLA made two semifinals and two finals in over a four-year span.

"I am hopeful that playing so close to UCLA will be an advantage for us," Zaima said. "We are familiar with the courts and the playing conditions at Pepperdine."