They continue to do it. No matter how much better a team may be
than the one the UCLA women’s tennis team played in the match
before, the Bruins treat them all just the same, by shutting them
out.
The most recent 7-0 victory came against UC Irvine on Thursday
afternoon at the Los Angeles Tennis Center, continuing a shutout
streak for the No. 15 Bruins, who improved their dual match record
to 4-0.
UCLA jumped out to a quick start in doubles play when senior
Laura Gordon and sophomore Riza Zalameda defeated UC Irvine’s
Clare Fermin and Jayme Hu.
The No. 3 doubles team of sophomore Tracy Lin and freshman
Ashley Joelson sealed the doubles point for the Bruins with an 8-4
victory over the Anteaters’ Ashley Siddall and Becky
Bernhard.
However, the road to the doubles point was not as smooth as it
could have been.
“The doubles was rough on all of us,” Joelson said.
“None of us played all that well.”
Perhaps it was just a matter of getting back into the rhythm of
playing in matches ““ once singles started, the Bruins took
their collective play to the next level.
Gordon, who played in her first singles match since the Bruins
opened up their season against Loyola Marymount, gave UCLA its
second point of the competition with a 6-0, 6-2 victory over
Irvine’s Inna Agababian.
“It was nice to be back because I never like to sit out of
matches,” Gordon said.
And the same is true for most of her teammates, as they were
happy to be back in action after a stretch without match play.
For Zalameda, it was a chance to work on the execution of her
serve-and-volley strategy ““ one rarely used at the college
level of women’s tennis.
From the onset of the match, the Bruins’ top singles
player was able to take control of the points and maintain her
aggressiveness, denying Bernhard a game in either set and putting
the Bruins ahead 3-0.
“It was a good match for me, because I was able to just
concentrate and not lose focus,” Zalameda said.
The team victory was sealed just minutes later by
Joelson’s 6-1, 6-2 win at the No. 5 singles position.
UCLA showed no mercy Thursday when dealing with Irvine, the
Bruins losing a mere 10 games combined in all six singles matches,
with just three of those coming in the matches’ first
sets.
Getting ahead early will be crucial for the Bruins when they
travel to Malibu on Saturday to take on No. 25 Pepperdine,
UCLA’s first nationally ranked opponent.
However, the Bruins can’t afford to struggle in doubles
and let the Waves gain momentum.
“I think we played really well in singles, but I’m
disappointed in how we played doubles,” coach Stella Sampras
Webster said. “The doubles point is really important against
those tougher teams like Pepperdine.”
But for now, the Bruins will make minor adjustments in doubles
before traveling to Pepperdine to do what they enjoy most ““
competing in a dual match.
“After not playing in two weeks, we needed a good,
confident 7-0 win,” Lin said. “Hopefully we can take
this momentum into the Pepperdine match.”