In the course of nearly eight months, the members of the UCLA women’s tennis team spend much of their time in the nooks of Straus Stadium, surrounded by the same 12 players.
With the countless hours spent in close company both at UCLA and on the road at matches and tournaments as far away as Virginia, this year’s team has developed a comical way of relieving the pressures accompanying a season.
The players assign nicknames for their fellow teammates, but these nicknames don’t imply the usually understood meaning a typical nickname would offer. Instead, the names are sheer instances of looking for a quick laugh.
“Recently, we’ve used random names just to have a good time with each other, so for lunches we have made-up names just for fun,” said junior Kaitlin Ray. “Jenny is ‘Yolanda,’ so we call her ‘Yo-Yo,’ and Courtney will be ‘Sharon,’ so just random names that we think are funny because it’s just a way for us to give everybody a hard time.”
This fun-loving, loose attitude provides an escape from the intensity of the 22 dual matches the Bruins played this season and a way for the team to encompass a collective attitude in a sport largely based on individual performance.
“I think they enjoy being with each other, enjoy being at practice and working hard because they all like each other and get along well,” said coach Stella Sampras Webster.
And so far, this comedic escape seems to have only helped, as the Bruins find themselves at a 20-2 regular-season, dual-match record and a No. 2 national ranking that places them in a prime position for a deep run in the NCAA championships in May.
“I think going up to away matches, we’ve gotten a lot closer, because obviously going through a season brings you closer, and by this point in the season we have nicknames and inside jokes, so it’s neat to see a team come together like we have,” Ray said.
So the next time unfamiliar names are heard echoing through the empty stands of the Los Angeles Tennis Center during women’s tennis practice, it won’t be an entirely new roster. It will just be the same UCLA team sharing a laugh before getting back to work.