TENNIS / AT OJAI : UCLA’s Phebus Wins, Bandages and All

Keri Phebus lay face-down on the pavement on Hilgard Avenue with cars whizzing by, one thought flashing through her mind:

“Please, don’t let me be injured.”

Phebus, a junior on the UCLA tennis team, rose from the spot where she landed last week in Westwood after her motor scooter hit some loose gravel, skidded from underneath her and sent her to the ground.

She examined the damage and found some deep scrapes on her knee and elbow but nothing, Phebus decided, that would keep her from playing in the Pacific 10 Conference championships at the Ojai Valley tournament.

With large bandages wrapped around her wounds, Phebus, ranked No. 2 in the nation, defeated No. 13 Pam Nelson of Cal, 6-0, 6-4, on Sunday to win the Pac-10 women’s singles title.

Brett Hansen and Fernando Samayoa of USC won the Pac-10 men’s doubles title, defeating Scott Humphries and Paul Goldstein of Stanford, 6-3, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4.

Phebus’ victory gave UCLA its first Pac-10 singles title since 1987, when Jane Thomas won it.

“I just ignored my knee and my arm. I just pretended not to see the bandages,” Phebus said after the match while a trainer removed one of the swaths, revealing a row of stitches in her knee.

Phebus rolled through the first set, but began to tire in the second--because of her injuries and because of Saturday’s grueling 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 semifinal victory over Stanford’s Ania Bleszynski, which sapped much of her energy.

Leading, 5-3, in the second set against Nelson, Phebus twice double-faulted before hitting a backhand into the net, allowing Nelson a break, 5-4.

But Phebus came back in the next game, denying Nelson a single point and winning the match when Nelson hit a forehand wide.

“I was happy with the way I played today. In this tournament (before the final), I haven’t been happy with the way I played. I was just hanging by my skin,” Phebus said, then laughed at her pun. “Actually, I guess that’s true.”

Phebus was the highest-ranked junior player to enter UCLA. In last season’s NCAA singles tournament, she became the first woman from UCLA to reach a final and she also was the second unseeded player in tournament history to reach a singles final.

Sixth-ranked UCLA will contend for the NCAA tournament title at Pepperdine starting May 12.

In the Pac-10 women’s doubles final, 11th-ranked Katie Schlukebir and Bleszynski of Stanford defeated Suzanne Italiano and Nicole London of USC, 6-2, 6-3.