MALIBU “”mdash; Saturday was a day of firsts for the UCLA
women’s tennis team.
For the first time, it competed in a venue other than the Los
Angeles Tennis Center.
For the first time, it was pitted against a nationally ranked
team.
And at the end of the match, the Bruins lost for the first time
this season.
The young squad got off to a completely unfamiliar start against
Pepperdine when they dropped the doubles point after a loss in a
tiebreaker at the No. 3 position.
Sophomore Tracy Lin and freshman Ashley Joelson had jumped to an
early 6-3 lead, but soon found themselves in a battle.
“We were up in No. 3 doubles and we just let it slip away
and that’s something you just can’t do against a team
like this,” coach Stella Sampras Webster said.
The doubles point was the first point that the Bruins had given
up all season.
Heading into singles, Pepperdine had a 1-0 lead that they were
determined to maintain a grasp on. However, junior Alex McGoodwin
had other thoughts in mind as the veteran quickly got the Bruins on
the board after sophomore Riza Zalameda was beaten 6-0, 6-2 by the
nation’s 15th ranked player, Bianca Dulgheru.
Freshman Ashley Joelson found herself down a set, but fought her
way back into the match by winning the second set. In the third
set, though, Joelson was ousted by Pepperdine’s Eva Dickes,
who gave her team a 3-1 lead. Just minutes later, Lin captured the
Bruins’ second point with a 7-6, 7-5 defeat of Caroline
Raba.
The attention was then turned to court No. 2 as senior Laura
Gordon was heading into a third set tiebreaker in hopes of keeping
the Bruins’ chances alive.
With her teammates cheering her on from the sidelines, Gordon
remained aggressive and was able to secure the tiebreaker, the
match, and the Bruins’ third team point.
“I let her get back in the second set, but I just hung in
there and tried to stay mentally tough,” Gordon said.
“Being able to pull it out is really good for me.”
The attention was then turned to freshman Anna-Viktoria
Lind’s court as she was just beginning the third set of her
match after coming back from a one set deficit. Lind’s
service game was broken and from that point on, Pepperdine’s
Merve Asimgil carried the momentum to a 7-6, 2-6, 6-2 win,
capturing the match for the Waves””mdash;their first victory against
the Bruins dating back to 2001.
“It’s obviously disappointing, but I think
it’ll help us in the end,” Gordon said of the
Bruins’ loss. “The freshmen get experience and they get
to see what it’s like to be in an intense match.”
Experience, both the lack of and need for, will play an
important role in the remainder of the Bruins’ season as they
will face some of the nation’s top teams.
Another key aspect for the young Bruin team, which showcases two
freshmen and two sophomores in the top six, will be jumping to an
early start by capturing the doubles point prior to heading into
singles.
“The doubles point is big no matter who you play so I
think if we work on our doubles, we’ll be better off,”
Gordon, the only senior on this year’s team, said. “It
just helps the whole morale of the team going into
singles.”
Though the Bruins dropped the match, they will look to bounce
back before playing host to conference rivals California and
Stanford this upcoming weekend.
“This was our first challenging match and it didn’t
go that well for us, but I think we’ll build on it and
it’ll only make us stronger,” McGoodwin said.