March 19, 1998

LOS ANGELES - The No. 14 ranked UCLA women's tennis team watched a 4-2 lead after singles disintegrate as No. 14 ranked Pepperdine swept doubles play to claim the match 5-4 in a non-conference match at the Los Angeles Tennis Center today. The loss is the second of the season for the Bruins to the Waves and drops UCLA's record to 10-7 overall, while Pepperdine improved to 13-4 overall.

UCLA looked to have the match in hand when Elizabeth Schmidt held off Karoline Borgersen in the No. 3 position for a 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 Bruin victory in the final singles match completed. That victory gave UCLA a 4-2 advantage going into doubles play. However, Pepperdine has two doubles teams ranked among the top-30 in the nation and it was clear the Waves were not ready to roll over and even a switch in the line-up order for UCLA's doubles teams did not a make difference today.

Pepperdine's top team of Zsofia Csapo and Angela Lawrence is currently ranked No. 5 in the nation and showed why as they defeated UCLA's Annica Cooper and Kati Kocsis 8-2. On court No. 2 Pepperdine's team of Borgersen and Annabel Rognon, currently ranked No. 26 in the nation, evened the team score with an 8-4 win over UCLA's tandem of Katia Roubanova and Schmidt. All eyes turned to court No. 3 where Pepperdine's Nadine Rastetter and Yael Tobi held a slight lead. The Waves went on to post an 8-6 win over UCLA's Brandi Freudenberg and Cristina Popescu to claim the team victory.

In singles play, UCLA claimed wins in position Nos. 2-5, while Pepperdine won in the Nos. 1 and 6 slots. UCLA's Kelly Rudolph claimed a 6-3, 6-4 win over Anh Nguyen on court No. 4 to improve her dual match record to a team-high 14-3. The Bruins also got a straight set win from Kocsis in the No. 5 slot as she defeated Rastetter 6-3, 6-3. On court No. 2, Popescu allowed just one point in the first-set tiebreaker, then cruised to a 6-0 win in the second. Both of Pepperdine's wins were decisive as Lawrence defeated Cooper 6-1, 6-2 in the top slot and Rognon defeated Freudenberg 6-1, 6-0 at No. 6.

UCLA's eight-match homestand continues after a break for academic final exams, when Stanford and Cal come to the Los Angles Tennis Center April 3 and 4.

Here are today's position-by-position results:

Singles

No. 1   Angela Lawrence (Pepp) def. Annica Cooper (UCLA)         6-1, 6-2
No. 2   Cristina Popescu (UCLA) def. Zsofia Csapo (Pepp)         7-6(1), 6-0
No. 3   Elizabeth Schmidt (UCLA) def. Karoline Borgersen (Pepp)  6-2, 3-6, 6-2
No. 4   Kelly Rudolph (UCLA) def. Anh Nguyen (Pepp)              6-3, 6-4
No. 5   Kati Kocsis (UCLA) def. Nadine Rastetter (Pepp)          6-3, 6-3
No. 6   Annabel Rognon (Pepp) def. Brandi Freudenberg (UCLA)     6-1, 6-0

Doubles
 
No. 1   Zsofia Csapo / Angela Lawrence (Pepp) def. 
        Annica Cooper / Kati Kocsis (UCLA)   8-2
No. 2   Karoline Borgersen / Annabel Rognon (Pepp) def. 
        Katia Roubanova / Elizabeth Schmidt (UCLA)  8-4
No. 3   Nadine Rastetter / Yael Tobi (Pepp) 
        def. Brandi Freudenberg / Cristina Popescu (UCLA)   8-6

Final Team Score:
Pepperdine 5, UCLA 4