May 21, 1998

NOTRE DAME, Ind. -- The end of the season has come for the UCLA women's tennis team which suffered a tough 5-0 loss at the hands of Texas today in the first round of the NCAA Women's Tennis Championships being played at the University of Notre Dame. UCLA, ranked No. 14 and seeded in the 9-12 group in the tournament, finishes the season 17-11 overall record. Texas, which is ranked No. 5 and seeded in the 5-8 group, advances to meet the winner of the match between top-seed Florida and Pepperdine in the quarterfinals.

"I was expecting a tough match, but we had pretty high expectations coming in," said UCLA head coach Stella Sampras. "We are healthier than we have been in the past and are a pretty deep team which can usually win one or two of those on courts 4-6. The matchups today were different than when we played at Texas earlier this season and things just didn't go our way today."

Despite the final score, the Bruins had an opportunity to actually even the score at three all after winning the first set on two courts and taking another to a third set. However the momentum shifted in all three situations and UCLA found itself hoping to score.

On court No. 6, UCLA's Kelly Rudolph had claimed the first set 6-4, but Texas's Janet Walker rallied to win the second 6-1. The third set was tight throughout, but Walker prevailed 6-4 to put the Longhorns ahead 4-0. It was UCLA who rallied back on court No. 3 as No. 60 ranked Elizabeth Schmidt dropped the first set 3-6, but rebounded to claim the second 6-3. Schmidt won the first three games of the third set and held a 4-1 lead, but No. 66 ranked Michelle Faucher refused to cave. Faucher fought back to force a tie breaker which she won 7-3 for the decisive point of the match. The final match was abandoned as Texas' Laura Berendt led UCLA's Amanda Basica 5-2 in the third set. Basica had claimed the first set in a 7-5 tie breaker and Berendt the second 6-4 in the closest match of the day.

The Bruins got off to a very sluggish start dropping the first set on four courts and losing the first three matches to finish in straight sets. First to finish was court No. 1 where Texas' No. 20 ranked Cristina Moros ran UCLA's No. 9 ranked Annica Cooper off 6-1, 6-4. On court No. 2, UCLA's No. 32 ranked Cristina Popescu got off to a slow start dropping the first set 6-2, but played much better in the second despite falling 6-4 to No. 4 ranked Sandy Sureephong.

Here is today's match-by-match results for UCLA vs. Texas at NCAA First Round

Singles
No. 1   (20)Cristina Moros (Texas) def. (9)Annica Cooper (UCLA) 6-1, 6-4
No. 2   (4)Sandy Sureephong (Texas) def. (32)Cristina Popescu (UCLA)    6-2, 6-4
No. 3   (t66) Michelle Faucher (Texas) def. (60)Elizabeth Schmidt (UCLA)    6-3, 3-6, 7-6(3)
No. 4   Kim Gates (Texas) def. Kati Kocsis (UCLA)   6-4, 6-3
No. 5   Laura Berendt (Texas) vs. Amanda Basica (UCLA)  Abandoned
No. 6   Janet Walker (Texas) def. Kelly Rudolph (UCLA)  4-6, 6-1, 6-4
Doubles     Did Not Play

Final Team Score: Texas 5, UCLA 0