Even though they returned from Wisconsin with their first two losses of the season, the UCLA women’s tennis team won themselves some experience that will no doubt prove significant later on this year.
The Bruins won their first match of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s National Team Indoor Championships at Madison’s Neilsen Tennis Stadium, but lost the next two to move their record to 5-2 on the season. On Friday, No. 3 UCLA beat No. 10 Florida 4-3, before losing to No. 6 Georgia on Saturday 6-1 and No. 7 Georgia Tech 4-3.
All three teams the Bruins played this weekend are tough competitors on a national level, ones UCLA is likely to see once the postseason rolls around. Coach Stella Sampras Webster viewed the tournament’s level of difficulty as an asset for her team.
“I think it’s a good indicator of where we are at,” she said. “We lost to Georgia and Georgia Tech. This kind of gives us what we need to beat these teams and get better. It’s an experience for our freshmen to play this tournament and be put under pressure.”
The win against the Gators was anything but easy for the Bruins, as they battled back from a 3-2 deficit to win 4-3. Instrumental in this were juniors Yasmin Schnack and Stephanie Wetmore, who won the remaining two matches on the court. After Friday’s match, the Bruins relied on their experience to help them overcome the disadvantage of playing on an indoor court, a venue they rarely see on the west coast.
“It was the first round,” Sampras Webster said. “It was our first match indoors and I think our players handled it well. We’ve had a lot of history with Florida. It was great to beat them again. We knew they were really out for us.”
Saturday changed the team’s outlook, however, with the only point in the match coming from Schnack, who won both her singles and doubles matches.
“She had a great tournament,” Sampras Webster said. “It was great to see her play well. Her confidence has really helped her grow. We need her to step up. We need her to win.”
The Bruins knew that a change in their play would need to happen in order to bring some success on Sunday.
Against Georgia Tech, Sampras Webster decided to change up the doubles teams, adjusting both the second and third doubles pairings.
“I felt like the teams weren’t gelling,” Sampras Webster said. “The chemistry wasn’t there. We wanted to see what combinations worked better. I think it was the right move.”
While the doubles teams did not end up with the point, Sampras Webster felt the play was better than it had been the rest of the weekend. Wins from Schnack and No. 1 singles player sophomore Andrea Remynse kept the Bruins in the match until the very end, when sophomore Maya Johansson was edged out by Christy Striplin 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (3) in the final match of the day. Yet Sampras Webster is looking ahead to the future after this tournament, seeing a lot of play that she did like, despite the losses.
“The teams this weekend, each one of them tested us,” Sampras Webster said. “This is going to help us down the road. We had a lot of experience going through it. It was a positive trip; unfortunately we only came out with one win. Now we know what the rest of the country is playing like. We now see what we need to do to get better.”