Coming off an emotional win against rival USC last weekend, the
UCLA women’s tennis team is in the middle of a month-long
hiatus from team play. Going into the Pac-10 Championships in Ojai,
its top two players will take a break from competing individually
as well. Daniela Bercek and Riza Zalameda elected not to
participate in the individual tournament in order to stay healthy
and focus on the upcoming NCAAs. “They could play,”
UCLA coach Stella Sampras-Webster said. “They are healthy,
but they just feel that they have played quite a bit, so
they’d rather focus on their conditioning and getting ready
for the NCAAs.” Sampras-Webster does not make participation
mandatory, instead using the tournament to fit her players’
needs. “I give the players the option of playing or
not,” Sampras-Webster said. “Those who are a little
burnt out or are hurt and feel that they need a break won’t
play, which gives everyone else an opportunity to play.”
Senior Sarah Gregg is also choosing to forgo the tournament to
nurse a nagging wrist injury. “For Sarah, it’s the
smartest thing for her to do because she’s not 100
percent,” Sampras-Webster said. “This time off will
really help her heal and get her ready for nationals.” The
absence of these three players opens the door for other teammates
to compete against a level of competition they usually do not get
to face. The Bruins will compete in two draws: the Pac-10 main draw
and the Pac-10 invite. Playing in the main singles draw will be
Laura Gordon, Alex McGoodwin and Tracy Lin. In the invite singles
draw, the Bruins will send Elizabeth Lumpkin, Anya Locaric and
Amber Ray. In doubles play, Gordon and McGoodwin will compete
together in the main draw while Lumpkin and Lin will team up in the
invite draw.
THE WAITING GAME: Now that the Bruins have completed the regular
season, their NCAA seeding fate is in the hands of the tournament
committee. Sampras-Webster believes the team has put itself in a
great position to obtain a high seed. “Stanford has
definitely earned the top spot,” Sampras-Webster said.
“But from two to 10 to 15, there have been teams with good
wins and bad losses. …I would hope we would be in the top eight,
get a good draw and try to stay away from the Stanford side of the
bracket.” The Bruins will be holding their breath until May
4th, when the seedings are released. UCLA is likely to host the
regional rounds of the tournament, but Sampras-Webster believes her
team will perform well no matter what the draw is. “Whatever
comes our way, we’ll look forward to and be ready to
play,” Sampras-Webster said.
ON THE RISE: UCLA moved up to ninth in the national rankings,
its highest since Feb. 1 when the team was ranked fourth. … After
defeating three top-10 opponents in two weeks, Bercek jumped 12
spots in the singles rankings to 13th in the nation, while Gordon
moved up an impressive 15 spots to 83rd. … Zalameda fell one spot
to 24th in singles while also dropping two spots to fourth in
doubles with Bercek.