The atmosphere was quiet and calm at the Los Angeles Tennis Center. There was no opponent, there was no crowd. There were only familiar faces.
The UCLA women’s tennis team returned to practice back at the tennis center after back-to-back home victories over Loyola Marymount and Cal Poly.
However, this week’s practice had a different feel since the Bruins are not just preparing for a regular season match, but for the ITA National Team Indoor Championships.
The eminence of this event is clear as only the top 16 teams in the tournament get to compete for the title. UCLA’s strong 5-0 start was rewarded as the tournament seeded them No. 2, right behind No. 1 Duke.
“(The tournament is) expecting us to at least make it to the finals. I think as a senior and the team captain this year and seeing the talent we have in our team, I’m expecting us to do good as well, but I’m expecting us to win,” said senior McCall Jones.
UCLA will start off against Georgia Tech, which many of the Bruins have no experience against.
“Since I don’t know (Georgia Tech) very well, I don’t really have a strategy individually, but I know what I need to do to work on and what is successful for me,” said freshman Skylar Morton.
While most of the players are unfamiliar with Georgia Tech, associate coach Rance Brown is aware of the Yellow Jackets’ staff and knows that the team will have fresh faces.
“(Georgia Tech has) a much younger team, (they) have some new players, but we’re familiar with Georgia Tech and definitely knowing the type of team (they) will have and the type of players (they) will have.”
UCLA is going into the tournament with a solid chance to win the title after top-ranked Florida and No. 2 Stanford decided to not participate in the tournament.
The Bruins, though, are focusing on where they will showcase strong singles and doubles players.
There are four singles players ranked in the top 100 with freshman Robin Anderson being the team’s highest ranked at No. 8. In doubles partners Anderson and Morton are ranked No. 12, while the duo of sophomore Courtney Dolehide and junior Pamela Montez check in at No. 23.
Brown is excited to see the performance that the younger players and the team will have at the tournament. He hopes the team’s high seeding doesn’t faze his players.
“The outcomes will come along and wins and losses will come, but getting them to learn from this environment and try to stay in the moment, go out and have fun and execute and really embrace what this national event is what’s important,” Brown said. “Seeing the top players and learning from it; it’s the biggest thing they can do,” Brown said.
This could be UCLA”˜s golden opportunity to finally hold the title for the first time since the team has carried on positive momentum from its undefeated season.
“Being 5-0 is definitely good, it’s better than having one loss. We don’t really know what it feels to lose or to even be challenged because our team has done so well. I am hoping that we can keep that going and just go into Indoors even undefeated and be undefeated there,” Jones said.