It’s been five years since the UCLA women’s tennis
team has done what it is about to embark upon this weekend. Not
since 2001 have the Bruins (13-6) had to travel away from the
courts of the Los Angeles Tennis Center to compete in an NCAA
Regional. However, the last time the Bruins did so, they captured
two matches and advanced to the NCAA Championships, showing it was
very possible for them to beat teams on the road. “Traveling
is obviously different because we’re not in front of our home
crowd and we’re not staying in our own rooms the night before
the match, but we’ve been doing it all season,” junior
Alex McGoodwin said. The Bruins will not have to travel very far
for their regional, however, as they are playing in the familiar
confines of Malibu. Earlier this year, the Bruins were in Malibu to
take on its NCAA Regional host-to-be, No. 13 Pepperdine, at the
Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center in a long, hard-fought 4-3 loss. And if
that’s not enough familiarity, UCLA will have some time to
make the proper adjustments before it faces first-round opponent
San Diego State. “It’s a little bit difficult not being
at home, but having two days of practice at the site before our
match will help a lot,” sophomore Elizabeth Lumpkin said.
Once Friday’s match against the Aztecs (16-8) begins, though,
the Bruins know they won’t have time to take their opponents
lightly, as they are up against perhaps the toughest opponent in
the school’s recent tournament history. “We’ve
got San Diego State in the first round, and they’re a strong
team compared to past years, when the teams in the first rounds
have been pretty weak,” UCLA coach Stella Sampras Webster
said. The Aztecs also faced off against Pepperdine during the
regular season, losing by the same score of 4-3, but the overall
winner was not decided by a final match as it was in the
Bruins’ case. If UCLA can manage to win its match on Friday
and get past the first round, it will meet non-conference rival
Pepperdine in what promises to be one of the most exciting
second-round matchups of this year’s tournament. This time
around, the Bruins will have to deal with a much larger crowd than
in their earlier match against the Waves, and they will also be
playing with a different lineup. Senior Laura Gordon has earned the
Bruins’ top position over the course of the year and will
face off against the Waves No. 1 player, nationally ranked Bianca
Dulgheru, who defeated sophomore Riza Zalameda in the teams’
prior meeting. “It’s obviously going to be a lot
different, but I think it would be a good chance for us to beat a
higher seed and go to Stanford,” Gordon said. Also, sophomore
Elizabeth Lumpkin, who did not play in the Bruins’ first loss
of the season, will be filling in at the No. 2 doubles position and
the No. 6 singles spot in place of freshman Anna-Viktoria Lind. The
Bruins will need standout performances from Lumpkin and Gordon if
they are to upset the heavily favored Waves and advance to the
Round of 16, which will be played in Palo Alto. “The fact
that we’re traveling is giving us added incentive to show the
rest of the nation that we can beat a higher seed and that we
deserve to be in nationals at Stanford,” Gordon said.
TOURNAMENT-BOUND: Regardless of the outcome of
this weekend’s NCAA Regional, four Bruins will be traveling
to Stanford to compete in the NCAA Individuals. Gordon, McGoodwin,
Zalameda and sophomore Tracy Lin ““ who was an honorable
mention in the All-Pac-10 race ““ were all selected to the
64-player tournament. Gordon, a member of the All-Pac-10 first
team, and Zalameda, who was selected to the second team, will also
be representing the Bruins in a 32-team doubles draw. The duo has
compiled a 12-3 dual match record and is 4-2 against ranked
opponents this season.