Thursday, 5/15/97 Crafting confidence W. TENNIS: Despite three
freshmen additions to the team earlier in the season, the Bruins
have come together and look ready to take on Tennessee.
By Christie DeBeau Daily Bruin Contributor The UCLA women’s
tennis team plays its first round match at the NCAA Championships
today, with everything the Bruins have accomplished this season at
stake. UCLA, the fourth seed in the tournament, battles No. 13
Tennessee today at 10:30 a.m. at Stanford. If the Bruins advance to
the second round, they will face the winner of the match-up between
Texas and Arizona. The Bruins are led by sophomore Kati Kocsis who
is No. 11 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s (ITA)
national rankings. This is Kocsis’ first year playing for UCLA. She
ended the season with a record of 21-15 at the No. 1 spot and was
recently recognized with the 1997 All Pac-10 Southern Division
Tennis Honors. Kocsis is confident about the team’s success at the
championships and feels that the hard work the team has done
throughout the season has prepared everyone for today. "We are
pretty confident," Kocsis said. "We have been practicing hard and
doing great the whole year. We are well-prepared and ready to
play." The Bruins have yet to play Tennessee and are uncertain of
what to expect. "We do not know anything about (Tennessee)," Kocsis
said. "So, we are just going to have to go out there and play our
best with the confidence that we can beat them." A long and
successful season helped the team in its ability to compete with
the best teams in the nation, which will all be present at
nationals. Kocsis attributes a lot of the team’s success to good
team chemistry. "We have been improving every day and this is
really important for competition in the tournament," Kocsis said.
"In the beginning of the season we did not know each other and now
we do. We always can count on each other and help each other out."
With four new additions to the team this season, the Bruins had a
lot of work to do to come together as a team and play college-level
tennis. UCLA has already come a long way this year, with a ranking
of No. 3 in the ITA National rankings. "With three freshmen on the
team, no one expected much from us," Kocsis said. "It is great to
know that we were able to go as far as we did and make it to the
championships. We have a talented team and have been working hard
for (today)." PATRICK LAM/Daily Bruin Kati Kocsis will play at the
No. 1 spot for the Bruins as they open their postseason with a
match against Tennessee.