Frontcourt players tend to get most of the attention at a college tennis match at the Los Angeles Tennis Center. They play right off Bruin Walk, right under the gargantuan Budge Offer Family Scoreboard, and in front of many passersby at any given time.
The same cannot usually be said of the backcourt players.
All eyes were on the backcourt, however, as that was where the No. 4 UCLA women’s tennis team would seal the deal for a 6-1 shellacking of No. 11 Stanford on Friday. Freshmen Stephanie Hoffpauir and Pamela Montez and junior Maya Johansson closed out the Bruins’ first Pac-10 match of the season with straight-set victories of 6-2, 6-2; 6-4, 6-3; and 6-1, 6-4, respectively, to clinch the victory for the Bruins (10-1, 1-0 Pac-10) after they had secured the doubles point.
“I think we came out really strong,” UCLA coach Stella Sampras Webster said. “It showed me that this team is not afraid of the Cardinal tradition or the mystique of Stanford. Our team’s good, and we’re looking to keep improving. We’re going to take this win, we’re going to enjoy it, but we’ve got another big match (Saturday) against (California). Don’t get me wrong, this is a great win, but we’ve got to look at the big picture here.”
Juniors Noelle Hickey posted a 6-7 (4-6), 6-2, (10-7) victory at Court No. 2, and junior Andrea Remynse ended the proceedings on a high note with a gutsy 7-6 (10-8), 6-4 win at Court No. 3.
The Bruins might have had a sweep over the Cardinal (7-1, 0-1), but senior Yasmin Schnack could not catch up with Stanford junior Hilary Barte, who toughed out a 7-5, 2-6, (10-7) win over UCLA’s No. 1 player.
The Bruins face No. 3 California (8-1 ) at the LATC today.