When Stella Sampras Webster announced the 2011 recruiting class in June of last year, ranked No. 3 in the country at the time by TennisRecruiting.net, she couldn’t help but get excited.
The sixteenth-year coach received commitments from three blue-chip recruits in Robin Anderson, Skylar Morton and Kaitlin Ray, who had all been ranked top-five in the country at some point during the 2011 year.
Florida native Chanelle Van Nguyen was announced along with Ohio’s Kyle McPhillips in November, but unlike McPhillips, who will join the team in the fall of 2012, Van Nguyen applied for a grant-in aid to UCLA and joined the school in January after completing an independent study program through Miami Online High School.
The freshman, also a blue-chip recruit according to TennisRecruiting.net, made her collegiate debut in grand fashion this past weekend, advancing to the Flight Two finals in singles and doubles at the Freeman Memorial Championships in Las Vegas.
“It’s definitely going to take some time,” Sampras Webster said of Van Nguyen’s adjustment to college.
“There has been a lot put at her this first week and we’re just very excited to have her part of the team. It was really nice to have all of our players traveling together and being together and competing together to kind of just see what kind of team we’re going to be.”
Van Nguyen and fellow freshman Ray advanced to the Flight Two doubles finals.
Both players advanced to the Flight Two singles semifinals, but did not need to finish out the draw because Morton won her semifinals match and the only three players left in the draw were from UCLA.
“We’re going to be patient with them and I believe they will be able to do extremely well for us because we need them,” Sampras Webster said of the four highly-touted freshmen.
“We need them to get it and to be able to compete at a high level and deal with the adversity because it will come.”
“We’ve got the veterans and then the four freshmen, it’s an interesting group and it’s going to be interesting how they develop as a team and what kind of team we’re going to be.”
Experience
While the freshmen made an instant impact, it was the doubles team of junior Pamela Montez and sophomore Courtney Dolehide who brought home the doubles title for UCLA with an upset win over second-seeded USC.
“I think that experience is important as far as going into NCAAs and the big tournaments because the freshmen don’t know what to expect,” Montez said of the Bruins.
“We’re a very young team and that is probably something we are going to struggle with, but we upperclassmen are trying to fill our role and just do what we know how to do.”
Dolehide returned from a stress fracture injury to her foot suffered during the fall.
“Being a young team, we may not have the experience, so we bring a lot of energy and a lot of enthusiasm to the court in every match,” Dolehide said. “I think we all work really well together and we’re all really excited for the upcoming season.”
Deja vu?
Senior McCall Jones, the No. 62 singles player in the country, advanced to the round of 16 for the second straight year at the tournament before bowing out to fourth-seeded Sabrina Santamaria, 2-6, 6-3, 3-6.
Jones is one of only two seniors on the team; fellow senior Carling Seguso lost in the opening round, but advanced to the semifinals in the consolation bracket.
“I know the freshmen are very strong and very eager to play and do well so it’s going to add a lot of competition for the upperclassmen,” Sampras Webster said.
I think it’s healthy for our team to feel that pressure a little bit from the freshmen because they’re very strong. The veterans are going to lead and it will be interesting to see how it all pans out.”