Crimson Tide washed up by USC

Bakalarova drops only set of the day at No.5 spot; team wins easily, 9-0

By NICK MCAULEY
Staff Writer

Looking for a tuneup for California and Stanford against a quality opponent, the USC women's tennis team did not get it on Tuesday, easily crushing Alabama, 9-0, at Marks Tennis Stadium.

"I didn't know what to expect," USC Head Coach Richard Gallien said. "They are unranked, but they definitely played much better than Oklahoma and Tulsa, who are ranked."

The Women of Troy made quick work of Alabama in singles play, with only one match going three sets.

USC No. 1 Ditta Huber outfought Jill Breslin, 6-4, 7-5. At No. 2, Kara Warkentin battled back from a 1-4 first-set deficit to defeat Weyli Chang, 7-6, 7-5.

Jacqui Boyd won her 23rd match of the year, toppling Dominique Glinzer, 6-1, 6-4.

Veronika Safarova continued her impressive comeback from a quadriceps injury, besting Selia Mathew, 6-4, 6-3, at No. 4.

Only Karolina Bakalarova, who usually has an easy time winning her matches, was forced to go three sets after dropping the first to Kathleen Mele. But she came back to win the match, 4-6, 6-3 and 6-2. No. 6 Bakalarova played at No. 5 singles instead because Gallien decided to give No. 5 Krissy Hamilton-Heinberg, some time off from to rest from some of her injuries.

Freshman Caroline Christian pummeled Jenny Ketchum, 6-2, 6-3, in the final singles match of the day.

The doubles matches were closer, but the Women of Troy swept them as well.

"(Alabama) stayed with us for awhile, and then we got them," Gallien said. "They just have some work to do."

Huber and Warkentin defeated Breslin and Glinzer, 8-7 at No. 1 doubles. Safarova and Bakalarova continued their excellent play as a team, rallying from a 0-3 deficit early in the match to beat Chang and Mele, 8-6.

Boyd and Christian won handily against Ketchum and Becca Baum, 8-3.

"Two of their best players left," Gallien said. "One of them transferred to Florida, and another just left school. When I scheduled them in November of 1997, they were ranked. I didn't want (a pushover) this late in the season.

"We could have lost some of those matches though, and I was happy that everyone was concentrating hard enough that we didn't lose any of them."

Copyright 1999 by the Daily Trojan. All rights reserved.
This article was published in Vol. 136, No. 44 (Wednesday, March 31, 1999), on page 19.