Just months after a run that was nothing short of spectacular, the UCLA women’s tennis team will be getting right back into action at the ITA Women’s All-American Championships at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades.
On Wednesday afternoon, sophomore Yasmin Schnack qualified for the main draw with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Georgia Tech’s Christy Striplin, joining senior teammates Riza Zalameda and Tracy Lin.
The preseason tournament gives the Bruins the opportunity to fine-tune their games individually before coming together to begin a new season in January, with hopes of returning to the NCAA Championship match but taking home the title this time.
“It’s good to get back into the groove of things,” Lin said. “We’re all just looking to prepare for the season in January and build some team and individual confidence.”
Lin will face off against Miami’s Laura Valverdu, with the winner of the match likely facing No. 1-seeded Megan Falcon of Louisiana State University, while Zalameda takes on Georgia’s Monica Dancevic.
Though Schnack had to qualify to become a part of the 32-player main draw, she and Zalameda were granted an automatic berth into the doubles portion of the draw after putting together a solid season as the top Bruin tandem last season. The pair was also recognized on the All-Tournament Team at the NCAA Championships in Georgia last year.
Two other Bruin doubles teams were just shy of qualifying for the main draw, as senior Elizabeth Lumpkin and sophomore Stephanie Wetmore, along with Lin and freshman Andrea Remynse, fell in the third round of prequalifying.
MCGOODWIN RETURNS: Alex McGoodwin will be returning to the women’s tennis team for a second senior season, as the Bruin was granted eligibility to compete this season because of a rule change that allowed her to consider her freshman year a redshirt season.
“It was actually a pretty easy decision for me because that kind of stuff doesn’t happen too often,” she said. “We had such a good year last year and when I found out I could come back, I figured it would be an awesome opportunity.”
McGoodwin was the lone senior on last season’s runner-up squad and will likely play a crucial role in this year’s lineup, which also sees the addition of Remynse.
Though McGoodwin has completed all her major requirements, she is still enrolled in classes needed to meet her unit requirement.
“Now I’m in a position where I can take any class I want to,” McGoodwin said. “I’m just enjoying my senior year all over again.”
ABID IN TULSA: Bruin junior Haythem Abid is also in action today, as he takes on Will Gray of the University of Tulsa in the Polo Ralph Lauren All-American Tennis Championships in Tulsa, Okla.
Abid earned a 9-16 seed in the draw and the winner of his 9:30 a.m. match will face either Tennessee’s Chris Racz or USC’s Kaes Van’t Hof later in the day.
“I don’t know him that well but I’m going to try to start slowly because it’s hot here and I’m going to need to get used to the conditions,” Abid said. “It’ll be a good preparation for the season and I can see where I rank compared to the nation’s top players.”
If he were to win his first two matches, Abid would be set to likely face off against defending NCAA Champion Somdev Devvarman of Virginia, who toppled current ATP Circuit player John Isner in May.
KWINTA NAMED ASSISTANT: Former UCLA men’s tennis player, Kris Kwinta was recently appointed the new assistant coach for the Bruin men’s tennis team by Coach Billy Martin.
Kwinta, who helped clinch the NCAA Championship in 2005 with a win at the No. 3 singles position, served as a volunteer undergraduate coach last season and impressed Martin while doing so.
“He did a great job as a student assistant coach last year so it was an easy decision to bring him on full time,” Martin said. “He knows what it takes to win an NCAA Championship, as he was an integral part of our title run in 2005.”
Kwinta fills the void left by Jason Sher, who served as the assistant coach under Martin for eight seasons.