Although they fell to Washington 6-1 a month ago, the Bruins do
not see themselves as underdogs in their rematch against the
Huskies today in the NCAA women’s tennis tournament round of
16.
The No. 16 Bruins’ source of optimism is the return of
freshman Jackie Carleton, who missed the last meeting between the
two schools due to shin splints and has not played a singles match
since then.
Carleton will be returning to her usual No. 2 position, hoping
to bolster a lineup that fell short of a victory in the last
outing.
“We think with Jackie in the lineup, we’re actually
the favorite,” head coach Stella Sampras Webster said.
“She will strengthen our doubles and make us deeper in
singles.”
Carleton returned last Saturday to play doubles in the regional
final against Pepperdine. After a slow start, she and teammate
Feriel Esseghir recovered to beat the Waves’ No. 1 team,
giving the Bruins the doubles point.
Carleton’s return will bump Anya Loncaric out of the
lineup, and shift every player other than Sara Walker down one spot
in the lineup. Sampras Webster hopes this will improve the bottom
of the lineup, which has struggled lately. In their three matches
heading into the NCAA Championships, the bottom three Bruin players
captured only one singles point.
With senior Sara Walker providing UCLA’s only point at No.
1 singles last time against the Huskies, Sampras Webster indicated
another Walker win would probably be needed for a team win. More
importantly, she stressed the importance of winning the doubles
point.
The Bruins have only lost once this season when winning that
crucial point.
“It’s a huge point because it can relieve the
pressure on the singles when we only have to win three matches
instead of four,” Esseghir said after the Pepperdine
match.
If the Bruins can manage to slip by the Huskies, they will
likely face Duke in the round of eight. The third-seeded Blue
Devils only have two losses this year and are the only team seeded
in the top eight that the Bruins have not played yet this
season.