In its final match before the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships, UCLA women’s tennis completed its final preparation match before heading to defend its title. The No. 2 Bruins avoided a letdown against UC Irvine on Friday.
The Bruins won their match 5-2 to move the team’s record to 3-0 on the season. UCLA swept doubles, and had singles victories from freshman Kyle McPhillips, and sophomores Chanelle Van Nguyen and Kaitlin Ray to clinch the match.
In preparation for the National Indoor Championship this week, UCLA made some changes to its lineup to allow other players an opportunity to gain experience. McPhillips played at the No. 1 singles position for UCLA and freshman Catherine Harrison moved into a doubles slot for the Bruins because Pamela Montez had the flu.
Harrison’s doubles match on Friday was her first as a Bruin in dual match play and she won, pleased with her performance and excited that she got the chance to play doubles.
“I really enjoyed playing doubles,” Harrison said. “I was really glad I got the opportunity to play today.”
While sophomore Robin Anderson did not compete in singles, she matched up with her partner sophomore Skylar Morton for doubles.
However, it didn’t go perfectly for UCLA. Morton did not fare well; while she won in doubles alongside Anderson, she lost singles 6-3, 6-1 in straight sets to Sarah Stadfelt of UCI.
“I never felt like I got good timing and I could never recover from it,” Morton said. “But I’m confident I can bounce back from it.”
Coach Stella Sampras Webster made it clear that there is nothing wrong with Anderson, the No. 6 singles player in the nation, even though she did not play in the singles competition. She said that she felt that giving other players the opportunity to play would allow the entire team to be better prepared for the National Indoor Championship.
“(Anderson) has been playing really well,” Sampras Webster said. “It was just a matter of getting players to play and get us prepared for next week.”