The UCLA women’s tennis team can take a deep breath as it
will finally have a weekend in which it won’t take on a
Pac-10 foe or another top-ranked team. Perhaps there is no better
time for the non-conference matchup against Cal Poly than this
weekend. After returning from a pair of dual matches in Arizona,
the Bruins’ top singles player, sophomore Riza Zalameda, has
been nursing a sprained ankle and her status for Friday’s
match is unknown. If the No. 12 Bruins (7-2) are forced to resort
to having Zalameda sit out Friday, senior Laura Gordon will take
her place. “I’m ready to do whatever is needed of me
and I’m ready to come out with a victory,” Gordon said.
Such has been the attitude of the Bruins throughout the season as
they have all been shuffled throughout the lineup while coach
Stella Sampras Webster attempted to establish a solid lineup at the
onset of the season. And it’s been just as long since UCLA
has played a team that can be compared even minutely to the Cal
Poly Mustangs. But that won’t give the Bruins an excuse to
come up without expecting a fight on Friday afternoon. In fact,
UCLA will even have a chance to execute in ways that they may have
otherwise been unable to do in a midseason match against a
higher-caliber team. “They probably won’t be one of the
stronger teams we play,” sophomore Elizabeth Lumpkin said.
“It might be an opportunity for us to make adjustments and
take more risks than usual because we have more room to try
that.” The match against Cal Poly is sandwiched between
Pac-10 matches against Arizona State, who UCLA beat 7-0 in the
first meeting, and Washington State next Friday at home. But after
competing for two back-to-back weekends against the likes of No. 1
Stanford, No. 8 California and No. 17 Arizona State, UCLA will
welcome the match against Cal Poly with open arms.
“It’s kind of a break from the Pac-10 schools, but I
think overall we should strive to get a 7-0 win,” sophomore
Tracy Lin said. Simultaneously though, UCLA would prefer to compete
in a high-intensity match over a lackluster match. “I think a
lot of us really prefer to play those more intense matches that
come with playing in the Pac-10 rather than these types of
matches,” Lumpkin said.
SLIDING DOWN: Though the Bruins picked up a
pair of shutout victories in Arizona last weekend, they dropped one
spot in the national rankings. The drop was due to a major upset
that the University of Miami pulled off over then-No. 3 Texas.
Texas dropped to No. 11 “”mdash; the Bruins’ old position,
which bumped the Bruins down to No. 12. The Bruins’
cross-town rival, USC, has climbed up to the No. 2 spot, meaning
that the top two spots in the national rankings belong to two
Pac-10 teams.