January 28, 2000

LEWISTON, Idaho - Cougars Ana Maria Moura and Kathleen Pienaar combined in No. 3 doubles to give the Washington State women's tennis team a point in its 8-1 loss to third-ranked California at the Lewiston Tennis Center Friday.

Moura (Rio de Janiero, Brazil) and Pienaar (Bellville, South Africa) defeated the Golden Bears' Jenny Lee and Christina Fusano 7-5. Moura is a junior-transfer from Oklahoma Christian University, while Pienaar is a freshman newcomer. This was the first time this season both have paired up together. The Moura-Pienaar combo were one-of-three doubles teams that kept the opposition on their feet.

"We had a lot of close matches today," senior Patrycja Gajdzik said. "Doubles is our strong point and we emphasize it a lot in practice -- and it shows in competition. We came out prepared and did what we expected to do."

With the recent loss of junior Erica Perkins (Seattle) and sophomore Sarah Burrows (Lakewood, Colo.) to injury, the 34th-ranked Cougars had a new lineup to adjust to in their first Pac-10 and dual match of the spring season.

"We are adjusting pretty well and learning our positions," said Gajdzik, a native of Szczecin, Poland, who replaces Perkins at No. 1 singles. "We have a lot of people stepping up and we feel pretty comfortable. We just have to take whatever it is and play with it."

WSU goes to 2-1 and Cal to 2-0. The Cougars host collegiate tennis' top team, the Stanford Cardinal, Saturday morning at noon in Lewiston.

"We are going to go out there and compete against them," Gadjzik said, "and see what we can do against the No. 1 team in the nation."

(3) California 8, WSU 1
Lewiston Tennis Center
Lewiston, Idaho

Singles
No. 1 Amy Jensen (Cal) def. Patrycja Gajdzik (WSU), 6-2, 6-2.
No. 2 Anita Kurimay (Cal) def. Melissa Pine (WSU), 6-4, 6-3.
No. 3 Claire Curran (Cal) def. Ana Maria Moura (WSU), 6-3, 6-3.
No. 4 Karoline Borgersen (Cal) def. Tamara Filipovic (WSU), 6-1, 6-2.
No. 5 Lisa Swierniak (Cal) def. Moniek van de Ven (WSU), 7-6, 2-6, 6-4.
No. 6 Christina Fusano (Cal) def. Kathleen Pienaar (WSU), 6-2, 6-0.

Doubles
No. 1 Jensen/Curran (Cal) def. Gajdzik/Pine (WSU), 8-6.
No. 2 Kurimay/Borgersen (Cal) def. Filipovic/van de Ven (WSU), 8-4.
No. 3 Moura/Pienaar (WSU) def. Jenny Lee/Fusano (Cal), 7-5.