Coming off of its biggest win of the season on Thursday ““ defeating crosstown rival USC ““ the UCLA women’s tennis team headed into a potential trap match against Oregon on Friday.
But the Bruins avoided the letdown, easily weaving their way through the Ducks while cruising to a 6-1 victory, bringing their record to 12-2 on the season and 1-0 in the Pac-10.
Since their two early season losses, the Bruins have not missed a beat as of late, riding high behind the fabulous play of junior Yasmin Schnack, who is the No. 19-ranked player in women’s college tennis.
“I’m just so impressed with Yasmin,” coach Stella Sampras Webster said after Friday’s victory.
“She’s been dominating at that No. 1 position which is tough because she faces every other team’s No. 1. It’s really great to have a leader like that at No. 1 who can dominate like that, and she’s just playing with a ton of confidence.”
Schnack, who has not dropped a set in singles play in the last six matches, attributes her success this season to a new boost in self-confidence.
“I’ve just put in a lot of hard work,” Schnack said. “I’ve been doing extra of everything and I feel like that has made me more confident. I just feel good with my game.”
It seemed as if the Bruins’ intensity from Thursday’s USC match carried over to Friday, which spelled bad news for the visiting Ducks.
UCLA swept all three doubles matches, and won five of the six singles matches.
In doubles, the tandem of sophomore Andrea Remynse and Schnack, ranked the No. 5 doubles team in the nation, defeated the No. 39-ranked pair in the country, Ana Olivos and Pavlina Smatova, 8-5.
In singles, along with Schnack, who posted yet another straight-set victory, Remynse and sophomore Maya Johansson also posted impressive victories, winning their respective matches 6-1, 6-2, and 6-0, 6-2.
Likely the most impressive victory of Friday’s dual match belonged to freshman Nina Pantic, who in only her second match of the season defeated Oregon’s Stephanie Macfarlane 6-0, 6-0.
Pantic was ineligible to play the first portion of the season due to her involvement in the professional circuit but is back and ready to give this UCLA squad added depth.
“(Nina’s) a great player, not only in singles, but in doubles,” Sampras Webster said. “She’s just going to get better and better as we keep playing and it’s certainly going to help our team with more depth.”
Next up for UCLA is Arizona State, a match against a Pac-10 opponent that will not count toward the conference standings. That match will take place Thursday at the Los Angeles Tennis Center on the UCLA campus.