This weekend will be one of many challenges to come for the UCLA
women’s tennis team as they travel to Nevada to compete in the Las
Vegas Classic.
The Bruins will have a lineup that varies tremendously from the
one they became familiar with last season.
After the Bruins lost to crosstown rival USC in the third-round
of last year’s national championships, they were stricken with the
news that their No. 1 player, Daniela Bercek, would be transferring
to Duke to play for the Blue Devils.
The departure leaves sophomore Riza Zalameda with the
responsibility of taking over the top spot after making a
surprising run in last year’s NCAA Singles Championships, in which
she reached the semifinals.
"Being a second-year is very good for my position, because
playing as a freshman, playing at the top rank was very hard,"
Zalameda said. ‘This year, I’m really excited to be playing at the
top."
After the No. 1 position, though, nothing is set in stone. In
fact, nothing is quite set at all.
"I think it’s going to be really open this year, especially on
the bottom," Zalameda said. "As far as 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 we’re not sure
yet. I think Vegas will determine that."
Fortunately, the gaps in the lineup are not due to a lack of
talent, but rather to high competition amongst the remainder of the
team.
"We’re just a really deep team," coach Stella Sampras Webster
said. "There’s no superstar or anything like that. Everyone can
play.
All the Bruins will be looking to do just that this weekend, in
hopes of making a lasting impression on Sampras Webster.
"Everyone’s so good that it’s just going to be one of my hardest
decisions – to figure out the lineup," said Sampras Webster, who is
entering her 10th year as the Bruins’ coach. "Hopefully, this
weekend someone will stand out and step up and it will be
easier."
And when it comes to doubles, the Bruins find themselves in the
same predicament with the loss of Sarah Gregg to graduation and the
transfer of Bercek. In their places are two freshmen, Ashley
Joelson and Anna Victoria Lind, who hope to make an impact on the
young Bruin team.
Joelson was the No. 1 ranked player in the USTA Girls’ 18s
Singles Rankings, and Lind comes from Sweden, where she had much
experience playing in junior tournaments.
"Hopefully, we’ll see something that will stand out which will
help us find the right combinations, but right now it’s up in the
air," Sampras Webster said.
"We may struggle at the beginning of our season a little, but I
think once we find our set teams, we’ve got a lot of talented
doubles players that will do well," she added.
This weekend’s main objective for the Bruins will be to gain
more match experience against several top-tier teams, similar to
those they will be matched-up against in the Pac-10.
“We are a young team and we don’t have all the
experience compared to Stanford and USC, but we’re going to just
try to stay positive the whole time," Zalameda said. "We want to
get as many matches as we can."
"Hopefully, we’ll have a lot of luck this year."