Part of the reason that the UCLA women’s tennis team has
been able to start off strong has been the quick adjustments that
its younger, inexperienced players have made. One of those players
is freshman Ashley Joelson, who, as a member of the No. 3 doubles
team and the No. 5 or 6 singles player, has dominated all of her
matches she has played in so far. Joelson has not lost more than
three games in a set as a singles player this year and has teamed
up against three different doubles opponents to record easy
victories in each of the Bruins’ three matches. “I
think I’ve been doing pretty well so far,” Joelson
said. “They weren’t tough matches, so it was just good
going out there, competing and getting used to the dual-match
situation.” Getting used to playing college tennis
hasn’t been too much of a problem for Joelson. Being able to
watch her older brother Brett play at Texas A&M gave Joelson a
chance to get familiar with the format and style of NCAA tennis.
“I got to watch a lot of college tennis as a junior. Just
knowing that you’re playing for a team and just your
individual self, that’s kind of a tough concept to get.
We’re doing a pretty good job and (senior Laura Gordon) has
helped us a lot with that,” Joelson said. One area of
adjustment that has been a little more difficult for Joelson to
make has been the territorial transition. Joelson, who went to a
small high school (New Braunfels) in a small town near Austin,
Texas, has had to quickly adjust to the hustle and bustle of Los
Angeles and the different atmosphere the UCLA campus has provided.
“Getting used to Westwood: the traffic, the people, the
business; that’s been really tough,” Joelson said. But
despite the adjustments she has had to make off the court,
Joelson’s focus on the court has led to positive results so
far and has given her a clear vision of what she is wants to and is
capable of accomplishing for the rest of the season. “I just
want to help my team anyway I can and do well in NCAAs and to help
us get a nice ranking,” Joelson said. “I know that this
year, I probably won’t personally make (the NCAA Individual
Championships), but I’d like to help the individuals that do
go to compete.”
A LONG REST: After playing their first three
matches in the span of one week, the Bruins will go an entire two
weeks without having another match up. UCLA ““ defeating
Loyola Marymount, UC Santa Barbara and Rice all by the same 7-0
score last week ““ will take on UC Irvine at home Thursday,
Feb. 9 at 1:30 p.m. before traveling to Malibu to face Pepperdine
two days later at 11:00 a.m. After those matches, the Bruins do not
have much more time to prepare for their Pac-10 season, opening up
against California and Stanford at home Friday, Feb. 17 and
Saturday, Feb. 18.