Friday, 03/30/2012

LOS ANGELES – Senior Samantha Smith and freshman Julija Lukac each posted upsets of ranked players in singles play, but the depth of the No. 1-ranked Bruins was enough for UCLA to take a 5-2 victory today at the Los Angeles Tennis Center. The 48th-ranked Huskies continue to show a lot of heart against a difficult schedule, but UW drops to 0-5 in Pac-12 play and 6-8 overall.

The Bruins are now 17-0 on the year and 4-0 in Pac-12 play. UCLA has more ranked singles players than any other team in the country, with seven currently in the top-125.

Smith, a Los Angeles native, has been struggling in recent weeks, but buoyed by the homecoming, she stepped up with an emphatic 6-3, 6-2 victory over 87th-ranked Pamela Montez. It’s her first ranked win of the year and 40th dual win of her career.

At No. 4 singles, Lukac got the first win of her career against a ranked opponent, as she pulled out a super-tiebreaker in the third set, 10-8, against 84th-ranked Chanelle Van Nguyen. Lukac had lost the first set, 3-6, but came back with a 6-3 second set win. That makes three-straight wins for the Belgrade, Serbia native.

Freshman Capucine Gregoire also was just two points from a third consecutive Pac-12 win, as she faced 116th-ranked Skylar Morton at third singles. Morton won the first set, 6-4, but Gregoire came back with a 6-3 second set win. Again the match went to the super-tiebreak as UCLA had already clinched, but this time it was UCLA coming out with the 10-8 victory.

Washington again played without senior All-American Denise Dy. Sophomore Andjela Nemcevic faced her third Top-10 opponent in her last four matches, falling 6-0, 6-3, to sixth-ranked Robin Anderson at No. 1 singles. Freshman Riko Shimizu and senior Adrijana Pavlovic lost in straight sets at fifth and sixth singles, respectively.

UCLA won two of three doubles matches to take the early 1-0 lead. But freshman Natali Coronel returned to action for the first time since February, she and Lukac losing a tough 8-5 match to McCall Jones and Carling Seguso at second doubles. A new Husky doubles duo, Nemcevic and Shimizu, provided a victory at third doubles, as the two beat Montez and Van Nguyen, 8-5.

Another big effort will be needed tomorrow as the Huskies stick around Los Angeles for a match against the No. 4 Trojans of USC tomorrow at 12 noon at Marks Stadium.

Washington Women's Tennis
March 30, 2012 – Los Angeles, Calif.
Los Angeles Tennis Center
No. 1 UCLA 5, No. 48 Washington 2

Doubles

1) (11) Anderson/Morton (UCLA) def. Gregoire/Smith (UW) 8-2
2) Jones/Seguso (UCLA) def. Coronel/Lukac (UW) 8-5
3) Nemcevic/Shimizu (UW) def. Montez/Van Nguyen (UCLA) 8-5

Order of finish: 1,2,3

Singles

1) (6) Robin Anderson (UCLA) def. Andjela Nemcevic (UW) 6-0, 6-3
2) Samantha Smith (UW) def. (87) Pamela Montez (UCLA) 6-3, 6-2
3) (116) Skylar Morton (UCLA) def. Capucine Gregoire (UW) 6-4, 3-6, (10-8)
4) Julija Lukac (UW) def. (84) Chanelle Van Nguyen (UCLA) 3-6, 6-3, (10-8)
5) Carling Seguso (UCLA) def. Riko Shimizu (UW) 6-2, 6-2
6) (103) Kaitlin Ray (UCLA) def. Adrijana Pavlovic (UW) 6-0, 6-0

Order of finish: 6,1,5,2,4,3