Things are slowly starting to come together for the youthful
UCLA women’s tennis team as they wrapped up a weekend in
which all players gained some early season experience that will
prove to be valuable as the year progresses.
Freshmen Ashley Joelson and Anna-Viktoria Lind competed under
the direction of coach Stella Sampras Webster while last
year’s returners traveled with assistant coach Rance Brown to
Las Vegas to compete in the Freeman Memorial Championships.
“We got to compete this weekend and that’s what we
needed,” Sampras Webster said.
All the competion led to a somewhat better understanding for
what this season’s lineup will look like for Sampras Webster
and her coaching staff, as much of the starting lineup was up in
the air prior to this weekend’s tournaments.
However, nothing will be set in stone just yet as there is still
the possibility that some players will step up or down during the
course of the season.
“I’m sure (the ladder) will be moved around a lot
during the season,” the ten-year coach said. “The
coaches will be talking a lot to see who’ll be playing at
what position.”
At the moment, though, senior Laura Gordon seems to be the best
candidate to play the number two position after coming off one of
her most solid individual performances as a Bruin.
The senior, who began her career as a walk-on freshman, finished
as the runner-up to Stanford’s Celia Durkin, who ranks 69th
in the NCAA.
“Laura has definitely stepped up and I think she’ll
be playing really high for us,” Sampras Webster said.
Ahead of Gordon will be sophomore Riza Zalameda, who’s
showing at this weekend’s Freeman Memorial Championships was
below what was expected of her coach.
“Riza unfortunately lost in the first round, but stepped
up and won a couple of big matches in the consolation
rounds,” Sampras Webster said.
Fellow sophomore Tracy Lin has wrapped up the third seed on the
squad for the moment with an impressive showing this weekend
“”mdash; one in which she has established a name for herself.
“Tracy played really well this weekend and she showed
everyone that she can play at a high level with success,”
Sampras Webster said.
From the third seed on, however, there remains much ambiguity as
several teammates are considered to be virtually equal with one
another talent-wise, still leaving many questions unanswered.
Adding to the burdensome questions will be the chemistry of the
doubles partners and the ability to capture crucial matches in
doubles play.
“As far as doubles,” Sampras Webster said, “I
think we definitely played well, but we still have to find out
which combinations will give us the best results.”
The Bruins are hoping to do so as soon as possible, with their
season starting this Thursday at Loyola Marymount.
The match will be the first team match for both Lind and
Joelson, who have also been trying to secure a spot in the top six
as freshmen.
Sampras Webster expects Lind to play in the top six, but is not
completely sure where she will fit in best for the team.