The UCLA women’s tennis team was missing two of its
regular starters in Thursday’s match against UC Irvine, but
it really didn’t matter.
The No. 8 Bruins improved to 3-3 on the season with their 7-0
win over the Anteaters.
With Alex McGoodwin’s stomach injury and Sarah
Gregg’s wrist injury keeping them on the sidelines, Shilpa
Joshi and Nina Yaftali picked up the slack in their first
appearance in a match this season.
“It’s so hard not knowing whether you’re going
to play or not,” said Joshi, who beat Christie Posner 6-4,
6-1 at the No. 5 spot. “I was kind of nervous. In the first
set, I felt like my feet weren’t moving.”
Because Gregg did not injure herself until Wednesday evening,
Yaftali did not even know she was going to be playing until 9:30
a.m. Thursday.
“I didn’t go to sleep until 3 a.m. the night before,
so mentally I wasn’t prepared and physically I was a little
worn down,” Yaftali said.
Nevertheless, the sophomore made the most of her second
appearance in a Bruin uniform, knocking off Veronica Fermin 6-2,
6-4 at the No. 6 position.
“It’s hard being so low on the depth chart,”
Yaftali said. “Our team’s so deep that no matter how
well I play, it won’t make that big of a
difference.”
“It’s tough not having lots of match play, but they
practice hard and prepare themselves so when they’re called
upon they’re ready to play,” coach Stella Sampras
Webster said of Joshi and Yaftali.
UCLA’s top half of the lineup did not face too stiff of a
challenge. Feriel Esseghir defeated Hui Leow 6-0, 6-1 at No. 3;
Daniela Bercek beat Tiffany Chang 6-3, 7-5 at No. 2, and Jackie
Carleton pulled out a tough second set in her win at No. 1 over
Anna Bentzer 6-3, 7-5.
Laura Gordon was the lone Bruin to lose a set, but she rebounded
to beat Kristina Boss 6-2, 4-6, (11-9).
After struggling in their last four matches in doubles, the
Bruins experimented with three new teams. Although Carleton and
Fisher are ranked third in doubles, Sampras Webster decided to
split them up, pairing Carleton with Esseghir and Fisher with
Bercek. All three teams won their matches, but it is too early to
tell whether these new teams will be effective.
“It takes a couple matches to develop chemistry with each
other,” Fisher said. “It was difficult to get into a
rhythm, but tomorrow will be a better indicator.”