If this year was anything like last year for the No. 12 UCLA
women’s tennis team, preparations for the National Indoors
Tournament would be at the top of the priority list.
However, this year’s team is entirely different and the
Bruins (3-0) opted to forgo the tournament this year to spend the
weekend in town to prepare for upcoming matches rather than
traveling to Wisconsin.
With UCLA’s absence this year, the National Indoors
Tournament field this year includes 15 of the top 21 teams.
Rather than travel to Wisconsin with a young team, the Bruins
will spend more time fine-tuning various aspects of their games,
including their doubles play.
“This year, since we’ve only got seven players, I
feel like it was a good decision to stay and train because we have
a lot of work to do,” junior Alex McGoodwin said.
As one of the more experienced individuals on the team,
McGoodwin has had very little trouble defeating her opponents thus
far in the season, and has also assumed the role as a mentor.
“I think it’ll be a positive impact on the team for
us to stay; the practice is really good for us,” McGoodwin
added.
The desire to practice is echoed by several of the returning
players from last year’s team who have noticed some
weaknesses after competing in three dual matches, all of which were
shutout victories.
“After the three matches, we’ve realized our
weaknesses.
“(The break) just keeps us working a little bit,”
sophomore Riza Zalameda said of the lengthy break between their
Jan. 26 match against Rice and their next match on Feb. 9 against
UC Irvine.
As many of the nation’s top teams will be busy vying for
additional victories this weekend in Wisconsin, the Bruins will
have a chance to make minute changes.
The team will prepare for their upcoming matchups against its
last two non-conference opponents, with the exception of Cal
Poly.
“I think it’s just perfect,” Zalameda said of
the decision to pass up the opportunity to compete at a high level
so early in the season.