After nearly upsetting top-ranked Stanford this past weekend, the UCLA women’s tennis team (5-4) looks to bounce back when it hosts Loyola Marymount (3-1) at the Los Angeles Tennis Center today.
Despite losing both its matches last week to No. 9 Cal and No. 1 Stanford, the Bruins’ morale was reinvigorated after their inspiring performance against the Cardinal.
“I think our weekend was kind of good and bad,” senior Alex McGoodwin said. “We didn’t pull off either of our matches, but we had a really close one against Stanford and I think that gave us a little confidence.”
Not only did the Bruins gain confidence, but it was also a good learning experience.
“We have come away from those two losses learning more about what we need to work on individually,” junior Tracy Lin said. “The coaches have come up with individual plans for all of us.”
The morale of the team was undoubtedly low after the tough loss to Cal last Friday, but the Bruins didn’t let this show in their game against Stanford. Coach Stella Sampras Webster was very pleased ““ she praised all her players for their great character.
“I really didn’t know how the team was going to respond,” Sampras Webster said.
“But everyone competed extremely well,” she continued. “We definitely had opportunities to win the match, but it was encouraging that we could beat the No. 1 team in the country.”
With this new encouragement, the Bruins are confident they can pull off a solid win against LMU in their day match. Sampras Webster is expecting to do well today.
“Everyone needs to be focused and ready to compete,” she said. “We had a good practice today, so we should do well against LMU.”
In order to prepare, the team has been focusing on fitness. The players have been conditioning and improving foot-working skills.
“We’re trying to get a little more fit because we’ve been losing too many three-set matches,” Sampras Webster said. “I think fitness is key to winning those matches.”
If last year is any indication of how UCLA will do, then there is a good chance the Bruins will fare well.
The women’s tennis team convincingly swept LMU 7-0 a season ago.
However, this time around LMU has had two successful wins over ranked teams.
They are looking to add the Bruins to that list.
Additionally, LMU has moved up again in the FILA Collegiate Tennis Rankings.
Despite these facts, McGoodwin feels that the inspirational play from the Bruins’ performance at Stanford will carry over into this game.
“I was really proud of the team because we really regrouped and came out strong against Stanford, and we came close to beating them,” McGoodwin said.
“We feel really good about our match tomorrow. We’re looking to go out and dominate LMU tomorrow.”