Women’s tennis triumphs over Arizona and ASU

The doubles teams continued to struggle this weekend, but fortunately for the UCLA women’s tennis team, the singles players stepped up.

Behind strong singles performances, the No. 11 Bruins (17-5, 5-2 Pac-10) won Friday’s match against host No. 25 Arizona State (10-8, 3-4) and then finished off Arizona (10-9, 1-6) on Sunday in Tucson, defeating their opposition 4-3 and 5-2 respectively.

“Our focus now is trying to figure out what (doubles) teams to put together,” coach Stella Sampras Webster said. “It is definitely an area where we consider some different options. It is really going to come down to what we see.”

Freshman Nina Pantic agrees with her coach and is confident that they will see the right combinations emerge before the tournament comes around.

“I think it’s just a matter of figuring out what teams we are going to use,” Pantic said. “It’s a matter of finding the right chemistry.”

As the Bruins are getting closer to the end of the regular season, the team is looking to build confidence and assurance before they reach the early rounds of the tournament.

“It was just a matter of trying to get the intensity up,” Sampras Webster said. “Winning only helps. Each player gets just a little more prepared, playing a lot more. The final week of spring break may have hurt us against Cal and Stanford. It seems like we are getting back on a roll, being able to train consistently.”

Each of the players knows that every match can help determine their fate in the postseason.

“Everyone fought really hard,” junior Yasmin Schnack said. “We knew that if we lost we would drop and not be able to host a regional match.”

Schnack herself feels much more confident after beating sophomore Kelcy McKenna in the match against Arizona State, who currently holds the No. 3 spot in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s national rankings. The match was a close one, but Schnack came out successful for the Bruins and clinched the match with a 6-7, 7-6, 7-6 nail-biter.

“I definitely felt a lot better,” Schnack said. “I’m not sick anymore. I tried to stay mentally positive no matter what.”

Schnack’s win over McKenna held extra significance. When the Bruins and Sun Devils met at the Los Angeles Tennis Center on March 12, McKenna handed Schnack her first singles loss of the season. As for now the team is really just looking forward to this week’s match against rival USC and hoping that they can continue to use the regular season to learn what they need before reaching the next level of play.

“I feel like everyone is getting ready for this week at ‘SC,” Pantic said.

Schnack shared similar sentiments about what the team needs to do with their remaining play.

“I hope we use this time wisely to fine-tune everything,” Schnack said.

The team continues their road run with a match against USC this week.

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