JANE LEE
Assistant Sports Editor
Last week Head Coach Gualberto Escudero boldly announced that if his No.-8 women’s tennis team knocked off the No.-1 team in the country, he would get a tattoo on his arm.
A few days before the much-anticipated match between Pepperdine and Stanford, Escudero began a search for tattoo parlors in Marina del Ray. He was even ready to go back to a colorfully tattoo-covered woman he ran into at Trader Joe’s to ask her for recommendations.
Fortunately for Escudero’s wife, who was opposed to the idea, the tattoo will have to wait, as the Cardinal survived a scare by the Waves, defeating them 4-3 at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center on Wednesday.
With the loss, Pepperdine fell to 14-3 on the season while Stanford remained undefeated at 17-0 and extended its win streak to 73.
The Cardinal earned the doubles point after getting wins from its No.-1 and No.-2 teams. The Stanford duo of Alice Barnes and Anne Yelsey defeated No.-22 sophomore Sylvia Kosakowski and senior Merve Asimigil 8-5, while the No.-2 duo of Celia Durkin and Amber Liu beat No.-25 sophomore Bianca Dulgheru and junior Eva Dickes 8-4. The Waves would prevail at the No.-3 spot, however, getting a doubles win from the duo of junior Caroline Raba and senior Natalie Braverman, who defeated Lejla Hodzic and Jessica Nguyen 8-6.
“At the beginning stages we were just trying to take one match at a time,” Escudero said. “We were pretty even and it looked like we could win the doubles point, but we lost at the No.-2 spot, which we normally always win.”
In singles play, the Cardinal went up 3-0 after picking up wins at No. 6 and No. 3, but the Waves fought back against its toughest challenge yet with two upsets on courts one and five.
At No. 1, Dulgheru upset No.-15 Liu 6-3, 7-5 while Dickes handed Whitney Deason a 6-2, 6-0 defeat at the No.-5 spot to keep Pepperdine in the match, 3-2.
Kosakowski evened the score after a huge upset on court two, walking away with a win over No.-5 Barnes 7-6, 6-3.
With the victory up in the air for either team to grab, all eyes turned to court three where Braverman and No.-13 Yelsey were battling in the third set. Braverman came from behind to tie the set at four games each, but Yelsey won in the third set 6-4 to clinch the match for Stanford.
“We just about stopped them,” Escudero said. “We didn’t make enough shots, so it’s a tough loss because it was so close.”
Escudero said it will be a match he and his team will never forget.
“The girls were so excited, and it was such a good match we’ll remember for a long time,” he said. “It also made us realize that we’re just as good as a No.-1 ranked team, and we could be even better if we continue to work hard for the rest of the season.”
As for the tattoo, there’s still a chance he could be stopping at a parlor in the near future.
“There’s a possibility that we might have to play Stanford at nationals,” he said. “If we do and we win, I’ll be getting the tattoo.”
For now, the Waves will be back in action on Saturday when they face No.-19 Harvard at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center at 11 a.m. They will also host Saint Mary’s the following day at 1 p.m.
“Harvard is a top-ranked team,” Escudero said. “They’ve got a great group of players, so we just need to be ready for them as we have been for every other team all season long.”
03-29-2006
