Today’s start to the NCAA tournament marks the beginning
of the women’s tennis team’s quest to salvage what has
thus far been a disappointing season.
The Bruins (13-10, 4-4) managed to earn a No. 11 seed in the
tournament, and will host matches in the first two rounds.
The women’s squad has been wrecked by injuries all season,
but they are coming into the tournament at almost full
strength.
“We are excited because we’re the healthiest
we’ve been all year,” UCLA head coach Stella Sampras
Webster said. “The team is really excited to get this
tournament started.”
Action will get underway at the Los Angeles Tennis Center with
Minnesota facing Pepperdine today at 10 a.m. The Bruins will battle
Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis in the afternoon
match starting at 1 p.m., and the winners of the two matches will
play Saturday at 3 p.m.
UCLA did not play IUPUI or Minnesota this year, but they
defeated Pepperdine on two occasions.
Being a host institution will enable UCLA to play the
tournament’s first two rounds on familiar ground, and will
also allow it to postpone traveling for another week.
“It helps with our confidence to be able to play at
home,” said Sara Walker, who was recently named to the All
Pac-10 First Team. “It’s a lot easier to play in our
own place and not have to miss school. There is much less
stress.”
UCLA is heavily favored to advance out of its region, and should
it do so, it will travel to Gainesville, Fla. for the
tournament’s remaining rounds. The Bruins aren’t
expected to go much further than the round of 16 ““ given
their regular season record ““ but the team is out to prove
that, now that it’s healthy, it is much better than its
record indicates.
“We haven’t been able to play our full lineup all
year,” Walker said. “If everyone is healthy we can do
very well.”
The only question mark for the Bruins is freshman Jackie
Carleton, who is still suffering from shin splints. She will likely
be limited to doubles play this weekend, but Sampras Webster
expects her to be able to play both singles and doubles in
Florida.
“Having her in the lineup will be a great advantage for
us,” Sampras Webster said. “We’ve never been able
to play with all of our top six players and we’re excited to
be able to do that.”
The Pac-10 is very well represented in this year’s
tournament, with six teams seeded in the top 16. Defending champion
Stanford is the No. 1 seed, and Cal, Arizona State, Arizona, USC
and UCLA are also seeded.
Last year the Bruins advanced all the way to the quarterfinals
before falling to Georgia 4-3. Despite their low seed, the team
believes that with the increased depth resulting from the
team’s improved health, they can equal or better last
year’s performance.
“We’ve got a great opportunity to show the rest of
the country how good we are because we haven’t been able to
do that in the regular season,” Sampras Webster said.
“If there was any time to be healthy, now would be the
time because we want to peak in this tournament. Anything can
happen during these matches.”
If the Bruins win both regional matches, they would advance to
the NCAA Championships in Gainesville, Fla., taking place May
15-18.