UCLA
USC
UCLA Gets Revenge in 6-2 Win over USC
June 21, 1999 | Women's Tennis
March 3, 1999
LOS ANGELES - The No. 8 ranked UCLA women's tennis team got a bit of revenge in today's 6-2 victory over 13th ranked, crosstown rival USC at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.
The Bruins had lost the first dual meeting of the season, 6-3, at USC on Feb. 13. With today's victory, UCLA improves to 9-2 overall and remains undefeated at home, while USC slipped to 9-3 overall.
The match got started on a rough note for UCLA as sophomore Christina Popescu injured her shoulder and was forced to default in the No. 1 singles position. USC senior Ditta Huber led 4-1 at the time of the retirement and posted the win. Popescu was also forced to miss doubles action today and her status is yet to be determined for this Saturday's match against Texas. The Bruins battled back to claim the first two singles matches to finish in straight sets. On court No. 3, UCLA's No. 38 ranked junior Amanda Basica avenged her loss at USC as she registered a 6-4, 6-3 win over junior Jacqui Boyd, who is tied for No. 71 in the rankings. In the No. 2 position, UCLA's No. 31 ranked junior Annica Cooper rallied for a 7-5, 6-3 win over junior Kara Warkentin, who is tied for No. 54 in the nation. The victory is the third of the season for Cooper over Warkentin.
The action on all three of the backcourts went the distance. On court No. 6, UCLA freshman Petya Marinova recovered from a 1-6 first set to close out the match 6-2, 6-2 as she defeated USC rookie Caroline Christian to put the Bruins ahead 3-1. The outcome was reversed on court No. 4 as USC senior Karolina Bakalarova rallied from a 4-6 first set loss to UCLA senior Brandi Freudenberg to win 7-5, 6-2. In the final singles match, UCLA junior Katia Roubanova claimed the first set 6-4, but USC freshman Krissy Hamilton-Heinberg rallied to claim the second 6-3 and took a quick 3-0 lead in the final set. Roubanova then broke serve and went on to win the final six games and claim the match.
Leading 4-2 going into doubles play, UCLA needed just one more point to clinch the team victory. The match on court No. 1 featured the No. 8 ranked UCLA team of Basica and Cooper against USC's No. 19 ranked duo of Huber and Warkentin. The teams had already met twice this season with each claiming one victory, the most recent by USC. The action got underway quickly, thus concluded shortly after the other two got underway. UCLA prevailed 8-4 to clinch the team win. The action on court No. 3 continued with UCLA also claiming an 8-3 win there, but court No. 2 did not finish.
Next up, the Bruins entertain their highest ranked non-conference opponent of the season as No. 6 ranked Texas comes to the Los Angeles Tennis Center for a Noon match on Saturday, March 6.
Here are today's position-by-position results:
Singles
No. 1 (23) Ditta Huber (USC) def. (13) Cristina Popescu (UCLA) Retired, 4-1
No. 2 (31) Annica Cooper (UCLA) def. (t54) Kara Warkentin (USC) 7-5, 6-3
No. 3 (38) Amanda Basica (UCLA) def. (t71) Jacqui Boyd (USC) 6-4, 6-3
No. 4 Karolina Bakalarova (USC) def. Brandi Freudenberg (UCLA) 4-6, 7-5, 6- 2
No. 5 Katia Roubanova (UCLA) def. Krissy Hamilton-Heinberg (USC) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
No. 6 Petya Marinova (UCLA) def. Caroline Christian (USC) 1-6, 6-2, 6-2
Doubles
No. 1 (8)Annica Cooper/Amanda Basica (UCLA) def. (19) Ditta Huber/Kara Warkentin (USC) 8-4
No. 2 Katia Roubanova/Elizabeth Schmidt (UCLA) def. Jacqui Boyd/Karolina Bakalarova (USC) DNF
No. 3 Brandi Freudenberg/Petya Marinova (UCLA) def. Caroline Christian/Krissy Hamilton-Heinberg (USC) 8-3
Final Team Score: UCLA 6, USC 2
