What a difference 40 spots in the national rankings make.
The No. 3 UCLA Bruins found out firsthand when they battled the No. 24 Louisiana State University Tigers Sunday, one day after dismantling the No. 64 Minnesota Golden Gophers Saturday.
Led by the stellar play of junior Yasmin Schnack, senior Ashley Joelson and sophomore Andrea Remynse, the Bruins (3-0) swept the Golden Gophers 4-0 and held off the Tigers 4-1.
The Bruins were clearly dominating over the Gophers. Consider this: The most tightly-contested match that finished play was Schnack and Remynse’s 8-2 drubbing of Minnesota’s No. 1 doubles team of Karina Chiarelli and Alex Seaton.
In singles, Joelson quickly finished off Magdalena Wiecha, and Remynse, the Bruins’ No. 1 singles player for both matches, defeated Chiarelli, both winning by scores of 6-0, 6-1. Sophomore Maya Johansson won the fourth and final point for UCLA by beating Alessandra Ferrazzi 6-1, 6-1.
The Bruins’ bout with the Tigers proved a much tougher test, but the Bruins still managed to emerge victorious.
UCLA won the doubles point to open the match, with Joelson and Seguso rallying after losing the first game to LSU’s Hannah Robinson and Whitney Wolf to come back and win 8-1.
Schnack and Remynse looked as if they would follow in their teammates’ footsteps, but after jumping out to a 6-1 lead, LSU’s No. 1 team of Megan Falcon and Mykala Hedberg won four straight games to close the gap to 6-5. Schnack and Remynse won another game before teammates Johansson and Stephanie Wetmore, UCLA’s No. 3 team, clinched the doubles point by beating LSU’s No. 3 team 8-6.
Singles, however, were a different story. After not dropping a set as a team on Saturday, coach Stella Sampras Webster decided for the most part to stick with the same lineup. The only change she made was to take Lind out of the No. 6 spot and replace her with Seguso at No. 5, moving Wetmore down to the final spot. The moves paid off for the Bruins. Wetmore defeated Staten Spencer 6-2, 6-1 to put the Bruins up 3-0 after Schnack dispatched of Hedberg 6-1, 6-1, and Seguso clinched the match for UCLA by coming back to beat Robinson 6-7(3-7), 6-2, 6-1.
The best performances of the weekend were turned in by Schnack, who played with a sense of confidence despite not finishing two of her four matches. Her drop shots were falling and her serves were ripping past her opponents.
Remynse, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s 31st-ranked singles player in the nation, was in the midst of a tough test against Falcon, the No. 5 player in the country, when play was suspended.
Remynse won the first set 6-4 but trailed 3-4 in the second at the conclusion of the match.
“I think (Remynse) did a great job,” Sampras Webster said. “It’s going to give her a lot of confidence knowing that she can beat anyone in the country.”
With their wins on Saturday and Sunday, the team qualified for the ITA National Team Indoor Championships. The tournament will be held later this month in Madison, Wisc.