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Jackie Carleton in action during a match earlier this season. Carleton will not play in the Pac-1

Five Bruins head to Ojai for Pac-10 tournament

Gordon, Loncaric, Joshi, Yaftali and Jolson will face tough competition

Brian Kiley
Published: Thursday, April 24, 2003

The women’s tennis team will send five representatives to the Pac-10 Championships in Ojai this weekend. The tournament, one of several Ojai is hosting, will begin Thursday and end Sunday.

Freshmen Laura Gordon and Shilpa Joshi will compete along with sophomore Anya Loncaric in the main singles draw, while freshmen Nina Yaftali and Kate Jolson will compete in the invitational singles draw. Joshi and Loncaric will also compete in the main doubles draw.

Gordon undoubtedly has the toughest first round matchup of the bunch, as she will face No. 11 Adria Engel of Arizona State. Engel split matches with UCLA All-American Sara Walker this season, and has been ranked in the top 25 all year. Gordon finished the regular season with a 9-13 record in dual match play and comes into the tournament on a five-game losing streak, though her last victory did come against Arizona State.

A very formidable opponent also awaits Joshi in the first round. She will face No. 44 Courtney Nagle of Oregon State. Joshi saw limited dual match action this season, and she finished with a record of 4-6. Loncaric will meet Engel’s teammate Lauren Colalillo in her first round match. Colalillo defeated Gordon on March 21, but was defeated by Susi Wild in the second UCLA-ASU match.

Yaftali and Jolson only have played only one dual match between them this season. Yaftali, who defeated LMU’s Erin Sanchez in her lone dual-match appearance this year, will face senior Kathy Chi of Washington in her opening-round match. Jolson will take on freshman Joanna Kao of Stanford, who only saw action in one match for the Cardinal this year.

In the doubles draw, Joshi and Loncaric will face a team that dominated the Bruins in the regular season. The 19th-ranked team of Tiffany Brymer and Jewel Peterson of USC defeated Gordon and Walker and then Wild and Sarah Gregg in two matches against the Bruins earlier this year.

The rest of UCLA’s team will have the week off from match play and will be preparing for the NCAA regionals, which begin May 9.