Feeling confident following its two wins last week, the No. 8 UCLA women’s tennis team (7-2) is now turning its attention to its next opponent, No. 55 Pepperdine (4-4), a team it already beat 5-2 this year.
But the Bruins are not taking the challenge lightly, practicing hard after their coach granted them a weekend of recuperation.
“(Today’s) match against Pepperdine is definitely going to be tougher than it has been these last two matches,” coach Stella Sampras Webster said. “We are going to have to, again, get them prepared to play hard. I think our bodies (needed) to rest a little bit.”
The Bruins hope to keep their home winning streak alive by repeating their early-season results and improving upon some noted weaknesses. Sampras Webster sees the rematch as an opportunity to coach the players that have had some difficulty in recent play.
“We played Pepperdine ““ we know their players,” Sampras Webster said. “We will be working with individual players and working with their game plans on how to play their opponents.”
Junior Yasmin Schnack shares similar sentiments with her coach, but adds a bit of bravado.
“I hope to do a repeat,” Schnack said. “I hope we kick their butt again.”
Sophomore Maya Johansson sees the home-court advantage as a positive in this rematch, hoping that it will lead the Bruins to another victory.
“It’s going to be a tough match again,” Johansson said. “They are always hard to play. This time we are playing at home, we have our crowd ““ this will help a lot. It’s going to be a tough match, everyone is going to have to play hard.”
Part of the team’s confidence comes from its attempt to keep everything in perspective, not letting any wins or losses affect the overall goal.
“We’re not too bummed about the losses (from the ITA National Team Indoors),” Schnack said. “I think it was a really good experience for the freshmen to see that kind of competition. I think it will really help us.”
Johansson agrees with the need to put the losses at the ITA Indoors behind the team and look toward the rest of the season.
“We had two tough losses at the Indoors, so it was nice to have some kind of easy matches and to win matches,” Johansson said. “It’s really good for the confidence.”
The Bruins also hope to have sophomore Andrea Remynse back in the lineup.
Remynse sat out the singles play last Thursday and Friday to recuperate from an injury, but Sampras Webster hopes she will return on Court 1 against Pepperdine.