This weekend had all the makings of an abysmal road trip for the
UCLA women’s tennis team, but the team competed as if it was
oblivious to all the factors that it was up against.
After losing to rival USC on Wednesday, UCLA (8-4, 2-1 Pac-10)
turned around and soundly defeated the Washington schools on the
road in consecutive days.
The Bruins were able to put away the Huskies and the Cougars
despite last-minute lineup changes, the fatigue of playing three
matches in only four days and the inhospitable weather.
“Those conditions are the worst to play in,”
freshman Riza Zalameda said. “The wind really equalizes the
players so we have to rely on just competing hard.”
The No. 10-ranked Bruins had no problems dispatching of No. 12
Washington(10-3) and No. 66 Washington State (5-8) by the scores of
5-2 and 6-1, respectively. The team dropped only three singles
matches all weekend and did not lose a doubles match.
“I am very happy with the way we played,” coach
Stella Sampras Webster said. “We had a lot of matches that
came very close that we were able to pull out of … no one
individual really stood out, it was just a good team
effort.”
The Bruins once again had to weather late changes to their
lineup because senior Sarah Gregg was unable to go on the trip due
to personal reasons.
However, the squad has battled late lineup changes several times
this season and has been able to easily adjust to the
situation.
“We had some different doubles teams playing
together,” Sampras Webster said.
“I was pleased with how well they played despite having to
make those adjustments the day before they were supposed to
play.”
The weekend gave the Bruins their first Pac-10 victories of the
year and marked an impressive rebound from last Wednesday’s
loss to the Trojans. Sampras Webster had indicated the difficulty
of playing on the road against USC, but playing in Washington
proved difficult in a different manner.
“It was a tough road trip,” Sampras Webster said.
“Having to fly, drive to two different cities, playing in the
wind through tough conditions, but we did really well. We got the
job done and stayed focused on what we needed to do.”
The Bruins will have little time to rest as they return home to
face No. 15 Texas on Tuesday at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.