After two weeks without a match, the UCLA women’s tennis
team is ready to start up action again when they take on UC Irvine
this afternoon.
The No. 15 Bruins (3-0) will play host to the Anteaters in their
first dual match since Jan. 26 before beginning the toughest
stretch of their schedule.
“I’m sure our players are lacking a little match
play so it’ll be good to see them compete and get back into
that mode of playing matches,” coach Stella Sampras Webster
said.
In the time between its match against Rice and today’s
match, UCLA has been training and conditioning to prepare itself
for competition against the nation’s elite teams ““ many
of which reside in the Pac-10.
But before opening up league play, the team will travel to
Malibu on Saturday to take on No. 25 Pepperdine in what is
considered to be UCLA’s first big test.
“We all know that we need to be really focused for this
match because we have Pepperdine on Saturday,” sophomore
Elizabeth Lumpkin said. “We really want to get into the gear
of being intense.”
In the past, the Bruins have had very little trouble getting
intense and defeating the Anteaters, holding an impressive 32-2
all-time record against them, most recently ousting the team in a
shutout victory last season.
Shutouts have also been a common trend for UCLA as they have
defeated all their opponents 7-0, reaching a season-high ranking of
No. 11 before dropping four spots due to the decision to opt out of
this past weekend’s National Indoors tournament where several
of the nation’s top teams competed.
In its last two matches, the Bruin squad was able to accomplish
the feat without the team’s lone senior, Laura Gordon,
competing in singles.
Gordon is expected to play in both of the upcoming matches and
will very likely play a crucial role in the Bruin lineup.
“It’s exciting (to be back) because I feel like I
need to play some matches,” Gordon said. “I’m
pumped up.”
Irvine comes to Los Angeles with a 1-2 record, having already
lost to the Waves of Pepperdine and No. 5 USC Trojans.
In their lone victory of the season, the Anteaters defeated St.
Mary’s 4-3 with a 7-6, 5-7, 7-6 victory at the No. 5 singles
position, a match that lasted for three hours and 10 minutes.
Because the Bruins’ schedule called for two weeks without
a dual match, the team has been practicing various aspects of the
game in hopes of continuing their streak of victories.
“We’re going into the match pretty confident because
we were able to work on a lot of things in practice,”
sophomore Riza Zalameda said. “I think our results against
Irvine will hopefully be a confidence booster.”
That is something they just might need before traveling to
Malibu on Saturday morning.
But for the time being, the Bruins are happy to finally be a
part of a dual match again rather than continually preparing for
them.
“We’re all competitors and we’d prefer playing
a dual match over practice any day, so we’re excited that
matches are starting up again,” Lumpkin said.