UCLA
Georgia
Women's Tennis Drops Heartbreaker to No. 3 Georgia, 5-4
March 06, 2000 | Women's Tennis
March 5, 2000
Austin, Tex.-No. 14 UCLA fell to 8-3 on the season after dropping a tough 5-4 decision to the third-ranked Georgia Lady Bulldogs Sunday at the Penick-Allison Tennis Center in Austin, Tex.
"This is the kind of match you want to see your team playing at this point in the season," Georgia head coach Jeff Wallace said. "We had all the atmosphereand competitiveness of an NCAA tournament match. It's matches like this thatmake us stronger -- this was a great UCLA team."
The Lady Bulldogs held off the threats of the upset-minded Bruins, breaking serve twice to save the match at the No. 1 doubles position. Forcing a tiebreaker in the deciding doubles matchup, the ninth-ranked tandem of Marissa Catlin and Lori Grey handed No. 27 Amanda Basica and Sara Walker a 9-8(1) decision to clinch for the Lady Bulldogs.
Georgia emerged from singles in a 3-3 stalemate, gaining victories with Esther Knox at No. 2, Marissa Catlin at No. 3 and Anne Nguyen at No. 6. The Bruins took the early advantage in doubles play, winning 8-3 at No. 3. Georgia quickly retaliated at the No. 2 position with an 8-6 decision from Knox and Aarthi Venkatesan to tie the match for the final time before the clinch.
The Bruins return home this week, hosting Arizona State this Friday at the Los Angeles Tennis Center beginning at 1:30 p.m. On Saturday, UCLA hosts Arizona beginning at Noon.
FINAL TEAM SCORE: UGA 5, UCLA 4
SINGLES
1. Sara Walker (UCLA) d. Aarthi Venkatesan (UGA) 6-3,7-5
2. Esther Knox (UGA) d. Amanda Basica (UCLA) 7-5,6-4
3. Marissa Catlin (UGA) d. Abigail Spears (UCLA) 6-3,6-4
4. Annica Cooper (UCLA) d. Lori Grey (UGA) 6-3,3-6,6-0
5. Elizabeth Schmidt (UCLA) d. Kelly Baskin (UGA) 7-6,6-4
6. Anne Nguyen (UGA) d. Catherine Hawley (UCLA) 6-2,3-6,6-4
DOUBLES
1. Catlin/L. Grey (UGA) d. Basica/Walker (UCLA) 9-8(1)*
2. Knox/Venkatesan (UGA) d. Schmidt/Spears (UCLA) 8-6
3. Cooper/ Petya Marinova (UCLA) d. Baskin/Mellis (UGA) 8-3
