NCAA TENNIS : UCLA Women Swept in Singles by Florida

UCLA’s top five singles players were swept and the Bruins lost, 5-0, to top-seeded Florida in a quarterfinal match in the NCAA women’s tennis tournament at Stanford on Friday.

The No. 7 Bruins (16-8) saw their top two singles players--Mamie Ceniza and Iwalani McCalla-- lose in straight sets. Anne Mall and Cammie Foley, UCLA’s No. 3 and 4 players, then lost three-set matches, leaving freshmen Paige Yaroshuk and LeeAnn Rostovsky as UCLA’s only hopes.

In a 3-hour 29-minute match at No. 5 singles, Yaroshuk lost to Kristin Osmond, 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 7-5.

Yaroshuk held a 5-3 lead in the final set and also had two match points on Osmond. The critical point came at deuce in the 10th game when Yaroshuk lost the point after the umpire ruled her racquet had touched the net. She was then assessed a penalty point for throwing her racquet, giving Osmond the game.

Rostovsky trailed Jill Brenner, 5-4, in the third set of their match at No. 6 singles when it was suspended after the Gators (28-0) clinched the match.

“We didn’t win enough during the year to have the confidence to be successful today,” Bruin Coach Bill Zaima said.

Today, Florida will face Duke, a 5-4 winner over Georgia.

No. 2 Stanford, seeking its seventh consecutive championship, defeated No. 6 California, 5-2. It was the Cardinal’s 26th consecutive NCAA tournament victory. Stanford will face No. 3 Texas, a 5-3 winner over No. 8 Arizona State.

Texas defeated New Mexico, 5-1, in a first-round match of the NCAA men’s tennis tournament in Athens, Ga., advancing to a second-round match against top-seeded defending champion USC today. The Trojans, UCLA and Pepperdine were among 12 teams with first-round byes.

The third-seeded Bruins will face Mississippi, a 5-3 winner over Clemson. The Waves will face LSU, which also had a bye.

In other first-round matches, Duke beat Miami (Fla.), 5-2, and Harvard eliminated Drake, 5-4.

Notre Dame defeated Mississippi State, 5-3, and North Carolina ousted Texas Christian, 5-3, in second-round matches.

Top-seeded Pomona-Pitzer defeated Kenyon, 5-4, at Kalamazoo, Mich., to win its first NCAA Division III women’s tennis title.