Jan. 31, 1998
No. 8 Arizona State Upsets No. 2 UCLA and Defeats No. 26 USC
TEMPE, Ariz. -- The eighth-ranked Arizona State women's tennis team upset the second-ranked team of UCLA and topped No. 26 Southern California this weekend at the Whiteman Tennis Center on the campus of Arizona State University.
Friday, the Bruins and Sun Devils (4-0: 2-0 Pac-10 South) matched each other point for point until the final doubles match between UCLA's Cristina Popescu and Elizabeth Schmidt and ASU's duo of Katy Propstra and Stephanie Lansdorp. The 8-5 victory by the Sun Devils' pair locked up the match for Arizona State giving them a narrow 5-4 victory and upsetting the No. 2 team in the country. This marks the second time in as many years that the Sun Devils have upset the Bruins when they came to Tempe.
The Bruins' Annica Cooper and the Sun Devils' Reka Cseresnyes put on a thriller in the No. 1 position going back and forth, taking the match into the third set. Decided by a tie-breaker, Cooper won, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (4). Lansdorp and the Bruins' Kelly Rudolph played three sets in the No. 3 position with Lansdorp outlasting Rudolph 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.
Saturday, the Sun Devils proved to be too much for the Women of Troy defeating them 6-3.
Again, Cseresnyes was in a three set battle, this time with the Trojans Ditta Huber. After dropping the first set 1-6, Cseresnyes came back and won the next two, 6-4, 6-3. Junior Alison Nash prevailed in impressive fashion defeating USC's Karolina Bakalarova 6-4, 6-0. ASU Freshman Celena McCoury opened her collegiate dual match career with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over Amber Basica.
Defeating USC 6-3, ASU notched their fourth victory of the season and second of the Pac-10. The Trojans fell to 2-2 overall and 0-2 in the Pac-10. The next meeting between the schools will be March 13-14 when the Sun Devils travel to Los Angeles.
Final: Arizona State 5, UCLA 4
Singles
Annica Cooper (UCLA) def. Reka Cseresnyes (ASU): 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (4)
Karin Palme (ASU) def. Elizabeth Schmidt (UCLA): 6-3, 6-1
Stephanie Lansdorp (ASU) def. Kelly Rudolph (UCLA): 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
Alison Nash (ASU) def. Kati Kocsis (UCLA): 6-3, 6-4
Cristina Popescu (UCLA) def. Katy Propstra (ASU): 6-4, 6-2
Brandi Freudenberg (UCLA) def. Kerry Giardino (ASU): 6-7 (2_, 6-4, 6-3
Doubles
Lansdorp/Propstra (ASU) def. Popescu/Schmidt (UCLA): 8-5
Kocsis/Cooper (UCLA) def. McCoury/Nash (ASU): 9-8 (3)
Cseresnyes/Palme (ASU) def. Rudolph/Freudenberg (UCLA): 8-2
Arizona State vs. USC
Saturday, January 31, 1998
Whiteman Tennis Center - Tempe, Ariz
Final: Arizona State 6, USC 3
Sinlges
Reka Cseresnyes (ASU) def. Ditta Huber (USC): 1-6, 6-4, 6-3
Veronika Safrova (USC) def. Karin Palme (ASU): 7-5, 7-5
Jacqui Boyd (USC) def. Stephanie Lansdorp (ASU): 7-6, 6-1
Alison Nash (ASU) def. Karolina Bakalarova (USC): 6-4, 6-0
Kara Warkentin (USC) def. Kerry Giardino (ASU): 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
Celena McCoury (ASU) def. Amber Basica (USC): 6-1, 7-5
Doubles
Lansdopr/Propstra (ASU) def. Boyd/Huber (USC): 8-6
Nash/McCoury (ASU) def. Bakalarova/Safrova (USC): 8-3
Cseresnyes/Palme (ASU) def. Warketin/Basica (USC): 8-0