When the seedings first came out for the NCAA Tournament, UCLA
had their eyes on one matchup ““ a potential meeting in the
third round against crosstown rival USC.
Now, after easily dispatching their regional round opponents
last weekend at home, the 10th-seeded Bruins are set to do battle
once again with their crosstown rivals. They meet the
seventh-seeded Trojans today in Athens, Ga., in the NCAA Round of
16.
“It’s going to be a battle,” coach Stella
Sampras Webster said. “It’s going to come down to
points. It’s the team that’s in better shape and that
wins those big points that’s going to win.”
While Sampras Webster believes the match will come down to the
wire, recent history has proven to be in the Bruins’ favor.
UCLA (17-5) has never lost to the Trojans (18-3) in four postseason
meetings, with three of those wins coming in the last four
years.
Although the teams have split regular season meetings during
these years, Sampras Webster feels it’s not a coincidence
that the Bruins have always come out on top in the NCAA
Tournament.
“We definitely have done better in the second half,”
Sampras Webster said. “It just shows how the team can grow
during the whole year. I know we seem to struggle when we play USC
during the regular season, but as the year goes on we are
constantly trying to get our players to improve and now we are
playing our best tennis.”
The Bruins appear to be hitting their stride at just the right
moment once again this year, winning 10 of their last 11
matches.
Just a year ago, the Bruins were in a very similar position as
they faced the Trojans in the Round of 16. They came into the match
having lost their last two regular season matches, but the Bruins
defeated USC 4-2 en route to reaching the finals.
In their two meetings this year, the Bruins and Trojans have
split with each team winning on its home court.
In the most recent dual match, the Bruins closed out the regular
season by defeating the Trojans 5-2. That win, coupled with their
overall hot streak, has the Bruins feeling confident about
today’s match.
“Last time we beat them easily,” No. 1 singles
player Daniela Bercek said. “We know their tactics, so
it’s just up to us whether we execute.”
The schools’ rivalry has always been heated, but this
match should be even more so. In the last meeting, UCLA’s
freshman Riza Zalameda battled fellow freshman Lindsey Nelson,
falling 11-9 in the split set supertiebreak.
So while revenge may not be the overriding factor for most of
the players, it still is for Zalameda.
“For Riza, it’s a little more personal,”
Sampras Webster said. “Lindsey is her big rival especially
after she lost last time.”
As always, Sampras Webster believes that the key to the match
will be the doubles point. In the regular season meetings this
year, the winning team captured the first doubles point on both
occasions.
The outcome shouldn’t be any different this time
around.
“Again, they have very strong doubles,” Sampras
Webster said. “We know their games, and we are going to
prepare our players accordingly. We have to come out strong against
them.”
Should the Bruins advance to the next round, the competition
will not get any easier as second-seeded Florida would be their
most likely opponent.
But after last year’s run to the finals, when the
top-seeded Gators lost in the Round of 32, the Bruins know not to
assume anything.
“You never know what’s going to happen,”
Bercek said. “Last year, nobody expected us to be in the
finals.”
“If somebody’s better than us, then they can beat
us, but I don’t think anybody is right now.”