When USC visited the Los Angeles Tennis Center earlier this season, the UCLA women’s tennis team met its opponent with a formidable crowd and the UCLA marching band behind it. The then-underdog Bruins fed off of the home crowd’s energy to defeat their rivals, 5-2.
On Friday, the Women of Troy tried to return the favor at their own Marks Tennis Stadium, bringing their band and a boisterous crowd to the match. But a strong doubles performance by the Bruins quickly took the energy out of the crowd, followed by a singles play that silenced USC. It was all too familiar as the Bruins came away with another 5-2 victory to close out the regular season.
“It was probably one of the biggest crowds we’ve seen all year, … but we were fired up,” said senior Noelle Hickey, who was the first to finish her singles match with a dominant 6-2, 6-0 win over USC sophomore Danielle Lao.
“We all got off to a really good start, which settled them down a bit,” Hickey said.
In the No. 2 court, Hickey defeated Lao in straight sets for the second time this season, and in both matches Hickey was ranked lower than Lao by at least 20 spots. With doubles partner, junior McCall Jones, the two upended the No. 20 tandem in the country, USC’s sophomore Valeria Pulido and junior Alison Ramos, by a score of 8-3.
In singles, Jones had the tough task of playing against the Women of Troy’s senior Maria Sanchez, the No. 2 player in the country. Jones fell to Sanchez, 1-6, 3-6, USC’s only point other than from court No. 3, where senior Andrea Remynse had to retire after suffering an ankle injury.
The No. 6 Bruins (18-5, 7-1 Pac-10) had strong performances again from senior Maya Johansson and junior Carling Seguso. Johansson’s straight-set win clinched the victory for the Bruins, and Seguso took USC senior Cristala Andrews to three sets before winning the final point of the match.
The strong singles play mirrored UCLA’s performance against No. 14 USC (15-6, 4-4) in March. But unlike that earlier match, the Bruins came out strong in doubles on Friday and won the point with victories in the No. 2 and No. 3 courts.
If UCLA had one glaring weakness this season, it was doubles play. Coach Stella Sampras Webster commented on the improvement her team has made in doubles throughout the season and noted that there is more to come.
“Our team has come a long way from the (Indoor Championships in February),” Sampras Webster said. “We’ve made a lot of adjustments in figuring out the doubles teams, and I’m really happy with the way things have turned out. But if we want to be a great team, every team needs to be able to believe they can win at that position.”
Sophomore Pamela Montez, who also won her doubles and singles match in straight sets, has seen her fair share of doubles partner changes this season.
“Doubles has been tough for us, as in seeing which people we can play and do well with,” Montez said. “Last year, I had the same partner for the entire year, as did most of the girls. We’ve accepted it as a challenge, and it’s coming together nicely here in the end.”