By Christine Paulson
Staff Writer
Hardly living up to their expectations, the women’s tennis team played in the Omni Hotel Regional Championships in San Diego last weekend with only a single player advancing past the second round.
“We fell a little short of the strength we have,” Head Coach Gualberto Escudero said. “We had an average showing.”
Playing well, sophomore Natalie Braverman advanced to the quarterfinals, but lost to the tournament’s No. 1 seed, Jackie Carleton, UCLA’s top player.
“Natalie lived up to her No. 8 tournament ranking by getting into the quarterfinals. I am very encouraged by her performance,” Escudero said. “Had she won that match, she would have probably won the tournament.”
Despite the team’s average performance in the tournament, the Waves still presented the team in a positive light to the rest of the competitors, according to Escudero.
“It looked like we had competitive players in this tournament,” he said. “Overall, we did look like a strong team.”
Currently, the team is “licking their wounds” and mentally preparing for the next tournament: the Women’s Fall Desert Collegiate Classic in Palm Springs Nov. 6, Escudero said.
“That’s tennis — you go on to the next tournament, and see how much fight you have to learn from your mistakes and beat people,” he said.
On the weekend of Oct. 12, senior Karin Schlapbach of Switzerland captured the singles crown at the 2003 Cal State Fullerton Fall Intercollegiate tournament.
She defeated UC Santa Barbara’s Andrea Pintar, 6-1, 6-1, in straight sets.
Schlapbach entered the tournament ranked No. 7 in the main draw.
“She played very consistently and played very well in the matches,” Escudero said. “She got better and better as the tournament progressed, and finished much stronger in the finals than she did in the previous three rounds.”
October 30, 2003