UCLA
Texas
Bruins Suffer First Home Loss
June 21, 1999 | Women's Tennis
March 6, 1999
LOS ANGELES - The No. 8 ranked UCLA women's tennis team suffered its first home loss of the season, falling to No. 6 ranked Texas at the Los Angeles Tennis Center today. With the loss, UCLA slips to 9-3 overall, while Texas improved to 6-3 on the season.
With four matches going to tiebreakers in the first set, it was obvious from the beginning that the competition between these closely ranked teams would be tight. The absence of injured UCLA sophomore Cristina Popescu from the No. 1 position forced everyone in the Bruin lineup to step up a slot and junior Elizabeth Schmidt returned from an injury to play her first singles dual match of the season in the No. 6 position.
The four first-set tiebreakers were split down the middle with each team winning two and going on to claim those matches. Texas claimed victories in the other two first sets to go up a set on four courts. The Longhorns claimed the first point of the match as Laura Berendt claimed a straight-set win over UCLA's Brandi Freudenberg 6-4, 6-4 in a battle between seniors.
UCLA claimed the next two matches to finish as juniors Katia Roubanova and Elizabeth Schmidt posted identical scores, 7-6(4), 6-2 to give the Bruins their only lead of the afternoon. Roubanova defeated Texas sophomore Janet Walker on court No. 4 while Schmidt handled freshman Kaysie Smashey.
The Bruins extended each of the remaining matches to a third set despite dropping the first set on all three courts. On court No. 2 Texas' Michelle Faucher outlasted UCLA's Amanda Basica 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 in a battle between junior to even the team score at two points each. Texas took a 3-2 lead when sophomore Kim Gates defeated UCLA freshman Petya Marinova 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-1 on court No. 5.
UCLA was on the verge of tying the match up as junior Annica Cooper recovered from a 7-6(4) first set to win the second 6-4 and took a 5-4 lead in the third set on court No. 1. However, Texas senior Sandy Sureephong rallied to win the set and match 6-4 as she repeated the dual-match victory she posted over Cooper last March.
With Texas leading 4-2 after singles play, UCLA would need a sweep of doubles to claim the team victory. Things were looking good for the Bruins early on as UCLA had solid leads on court Nos. 2 and 3 before action began on court No. 1. First to finish was court No. 3 where the duo of Freudenberg and Marinova cruised to an 8-2 win over Texas's Gates and Joanne Masongsong.
However, the momentum shifted on court No. 2 as the Texas team of Berendt and Walker erased a 4-1 UCLA lead and pulled ahead of UCLA's team of Roubanova and Schmidt, 5-4. At the same time the Horns No. 1 tandem of Sureephong and Smashey got out to a quick 4-1 lead and built that to 7-2. Texas served for the match on both courts at the same time. UCLA scored the break on court No. 1, but succumbed on No. 2, 8-6. The final score on court No. 1 was 8-4, Texas.
Next up, the Bruins concluded their four-match homestand against another top-10 ranked non-conference for as 10th ranked William & Mary comes to the Los Angeles Tennis Center for a 1:30 p.m. match on Tuesday, March 9.
Here are today's position-by-position results:
Singles
No. 1 Sandy Sureephong (TX) def. (31) Annica Cooper (UCLA) 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-4 No. 2 (100) Michelle Faucher (TX) def. (38) Amanda Basica (UCLA) 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 No. 3 Laura Berendt (TX) def. Brandi Freudenberg (UCLA) 6-4, 6-4 No. 4 Katia Roubanova (UCLA) def. (58) Janet Walker (TX) 7-6(4), 6-2 No. 5 (66) Kim Gates (TX) def. Petya Marinova (UCLA) 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-1 No. 6 Elizabeth Schmidt (UCLA) def. Kaysie Smashey (TX) 7-6(4), 6-2
Doubles
No. 1 K. Smashey/S. Sureephong (TX) def. (8)A. Cooper/A. Basica (UCLA) 8-4 No. 2 L. Berendt/J. Walker (TX) def. K. Roubanova/E. Schmidt (UCLA) 8-6 No. 3 B. Freudenberg/P. Marinova (UCLA) def. K. Gates/J. Masongsong (TX) 8-2Final Team Score: Texas 6, UCLA 3
