LOS ANGELES - The No. 2 ranked UCLA women's tennis team opened 1998 dual match play by sweeping past local foe UC Irvine, 9-0, today at UCLA's Sunset Courts. in its first home match of the season. Since this was both the home and season opener for UCLA, the Bruins record is now 1-0. UC Irvine slipped to 1-1 after opening play yesterday with a 8-1 victory over Point Loma. The Bruins depth showed today as injuries have 1997 All-Americans Amanda Basica (singles) and Katia Roubanova (doubles) sidelined. Opening the season in the No. 1 position for UCLA was Annica Cooper who has been impressive in recent action. Already this month, Cooper has won the Milwaukee Classic and was runner-up in Flight One at the Pac-10 Indoor Championships. She handled UCI freshman Darian Chappell 6-1, 6-2 in the top-slot.

Action was tighter in the No. 2 position where UCLA's Elizabeth Schmidt held off UCI freshman Natalie Exon, a local product from Irvine's Woodbridge High, 6-3, 7-5. UCLA rookie Cristina Popescu made her debut in the No. 3 slot and posted a 6-1, 6-2 win over UCI sophomore Lisabeth Yim, 6-1, 6-2. Kelly Rudolph and Brandi Freudenberg also turned in straight set wins in the No. 4 and 5 slots with victories over UCI freshmen Carla Nasca and Nickole Kabe. Perhaps the most competitive match of the day was at No. 6 singles where UCLA's local rookie Becky Rajfer (Palos Verdes Peninsula High) defeated UCI's junior Patty Villaroman (Katella High) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in her first dual match as a Bruin.

UCLA also swept through doubles play with Schmidt and Cooper teaming to defeat Chappell and Yim, 8-4, in the No. 1 slot. Popescu paired with Kati Kocsis in the No. 2 position for an 8-2 win over Exon and Nasca. The duo of Rudolph and Freudenberg blanked, 8-0, Kelly Foster and Kabe in the No. 3 position. Here are today's position-by-position results:

Singles
No. 1 Annica Cooper (UCLA) def. Darian Chappell (UCI) 6-1, 6-2
No. 2 Elizabeth Schmidt (UCLA) def. Natalie Exon (UCI) 6-3, 7-5
No. 3 Cristina Popescu (UCLA) def. Lisabeth Yim (UCI) 6-1, 6-2
No. 4 Kelly Rudolph (UCLA) def. Carla Nasca (UCI) 6-0, 6-3
No. 5 Brandi Freudenberg (UCLA) def. Nickole Kabe (UCI) 6-0, 6-2
No. 6 Becky Rajfer (UCLA) def. Patty Villaroman (UCI) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3

Doubles
No. 1 Annica Cooper / Elizabeth Schmidt (UCLA) def. Darian Chappell / Lisabeth Yim (UCI) 8-4
No. 2 Cristina Popescu / Kati Kocsis (UCLA) def. Natalie Exon / Carla Nasca (UCI) 8-2
No. 3 Brandi Freudenberg / Kelly Rudolph (UCLA) def. Kelly Foster / Nickole Kabe (UCI) 8-0

Final Team Score:
UCLA 9, UC Irvine 0