The UCLA women’s tennis team is entering what it considers to be the most critical portion of its season, and are treating it as just that.
The No. 10 Bruins (12-5, 5-3 Pac-10) have reached their highest ranking in nearly a year, after falling to as low as No. 22 on March 13, and hope to remain near the top of the pack throughout the remainder of the season.
“We were just trying to get in tune for these next couple of weeks because we have some big matches ahead of us and they’re very important in determining our ranking for the rest of the year before heading into NCAAs,” junior Tracy Lin said.
In order to host an NCAA Regional, the Bruins will need to remain as one of the top-16 teams in the nation heading into the NCAA Championships, a feat that the team feels can be accomplished with consistent play.
UCLA began heating up after returning from a trip to Stanford and Cal and have gone on to win seven of their last eight matches, with their most recent dual match victory coming over Oregon on Saturday.
Prior to the match against the Ducks, the Bruins had a week to get back into its groove after a week in which players had shifted their attention to finals and struggled to find time to squeeze in their normal workout.
“I didn’t know how they’d do after a week of finals,” coach Stella Sampras Webster said.
“They were surprisingly pretty good. Usually it takes a few days to get back their timing, but they practiced well on the first day.”
On four consecutive days of spring break, the Bruins practiced twice a day, utilizing the time to gain extra conditioning and prepare for the remainder of the season, while having no worries about academics.
“We actually got to practice more than we normally do,” the team’s lone senior, Alex McGoodwin, said.
“We really went into that week just wanting to dominate Oregon and get back into the flow.”
Sophomore Ashley Joelson feels as though the team is heating up when it is most important and when it counts the most, regardless of what may have been considered a slow start for UCLA.
“It’s always good to play better at the end than at the beginning,” she said. “This is when we really just have to step up and play.”
After the Bruins travel this weekend to face Arizona and Arizona State, they have just three home matches and a trip to USC remaining prior to the Pac-10 Championships and NCAA Championships.
But rather than look ahead, UCLA is focusing its attention on this weekend’s matches.
They know that those matches will be pivotal in helping achieve the goal of hosting an NCAA Regional.
UCLA was unable to host last season when the Bruins had to travel to Malibu to play at Pepperdine before upsetting the Waves and advancing to play in Palo Alto.
“I feel pretty confident that we’ll be able to host this year,” Lin said.
“Hopefully things will go well in the next couple of weeks, and we’ll get at least a couple of good wins.”
“It’s really important to play big right now,” Joelson added.
“It’s time for everyone on the team to step up and take the lead and do what we do.”