By
Lindsey Manroel
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Wildcat singles lose; Blau and Gough advance in doubles
While the Arizona women's tennis team had a good showing at the ITA All-American tournament, it wasn't good enough to advance any further than the first round of the 32-player main draw.
The tournament, which began on Oct. 14, came to an end for junior Lindsay Blau yesterday.
Held at the Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles, the event hosted some of the top-ranked players in the country.
Blau, who has been sidelined from two tournaments due to excessive swelling in her right knee, had a strong performance throughout the tournament.
The junior's defeat of No.57 Lauren Barnikow of Stanford and California's Christina Fusano moved her into the third-round qualifying match and placed Blau just one victory away from earning a berth in the main draw.
Blau, whose knee had presented her with some problems in prior tournaments, played with the precision and confidence that earned her a seat in the tournament.
In a tough third round match, Blau was defeated by Ohio State's Kristi Dascoli, 6-1, 6-0. Although the performance set Blau just shy of the main draw, luck was on her side. After Bea Bielik of Wake Forest withdrew from the 32-player main draw, Blau was fortunate enough to have her name pulled out of a lottery, therefore qualifying her to move on to the main bracket.
However, Blau's streak came to a halt Thursday when she was defeated by Jewel Peterson of USC, 7-5, 6-3.
Blau's doubles partner, senior Michelle Gough, seemed to have much more difficulty playing on LA pavement.
Gough, who could not produce a win against North Carolina's Julie Rotundi, was defeated 6-2, 7-5 in the first round.
Freshman Debbie Larocque, who was on a five-day winning streak, also dropped her match against Alesia Ignatieva, ending her chances of advancing to the main draw.
Although the UA freshman was not able to advance further in the tournament, head coach Brad Dancer is pleased with her performance.
"Debbie was awesome," Dancer said. "Her tenacity was number one (in her performance). She continues to be very offensive because she's so set on improving her game."
Larocque, who was seeded in the prequalifying draw, produced enough wins to make it to the qualifying bracket and was only one match away from earning a spot in the main draw.
No. 3 ranked doubles team consisting of Blau and Gough, defeated South Carolina's Markovski and Radman, 6-3, 6-1 yesterday. The two powerhouses will try to advance in the tournament as they play in the quarterfinals today.
