Entering today’s match against Rice after its second
shutout victory on Tuesday, the UCLA women’s tennis team
(2-0) hopes to extend that dominant trend yet again.
The No. 12 Bruins are beginning to play progressively tougher
and tougher opponents, and their results remain positive before
entering into conference play.
“It’s another good match that we’ll need for
practice before Pac-10 matches,” sophomore Riza Zalameda
said.
Zalameda will likely find herself in perhaps the most
challenging match of her second season this afternoon when she
takes on Rice’s Blair DiSesa, who has earned a No. 31 ranking
after fall play.
Fellow Owl teammate Dominique Karas of Nova Scotia, Canada joins
DiSesa in the national rankings, beginning the season at No. 68 in
singles play.
The Owls were ranked 51st nationally prior to the onset of
dual-season match play.
With wins in their first two matches, they will likely secure
their spot in the top 50, if not improve upon it.
“Rice should be a stronger team (than Loyola Marymount and
UC Santa Barbara), but everyone’s feeling pretty good,”
UCLA coach Stella Sampras Webster said. “We’re healthy
and players are wanting to play and are ready to play and
compete.”
Not only is everyone on the team ready to play more matches, but
they are steadily improving their level of performance.
As the season progresses and the players get more experience in
their newfound roles, the team will find a steadily growing sense
of confidence.
“I think we are a little more match-tough than we were at
the beginning of the season,” sophomore Elizabeth Lumpkin
said. “I think we’re a little more comfortable with our
games and making sure that we stay aggressive.”
Aggressiveness has been a trend in both of the Bruins’
home matches thus far, and the intensity they carry into this
afternoon’s matchup must be maintained to pull off yet
another win. A victory today would give the Bruins a 3-0 record
before their two weeks off.
“Rice is a pretty competitive team so we’re going to
try to really jump on them right away and we’ve done that
pretty well so far,” Lumpkin said.
“We just need to keep playing the way we’ve been
playing and hopefully get another clean sweep,” fellow
sophomore Tracy Lin said.
In the team’s first two matches, Sampras Webster has
experimented with the team’s doubles lineup.
Tuesday’s combinations may not have been the best, leading
the 10th-year coach to search yet again for better
combinations.
The No. 2 team of Lin and junior Alex McGoodwin needed a
tie-breaker to clinch their match against UC Santa Barbara while
senior Laura Gordon and Zalameda found themselves in an early hole,
down 3-0, before capturing the 8-4 victory at the top doubles
spot.
“Maybe we’ll try something new,” Sampras
Webster said. “I’m still not convinced that we’ve
found our three best doubles teams.”
Regardless of the search for the best doubles teams, the young
UCLA squad has found itself improving at a rate that has pleased
Sampras Webster this early in the season.
Even better yet, the Bruins are winning, making the whole
process that much more tolerable.
“I think that what we’re looking for this year is to
improve with every match that we play,” Sampras Webster said.
“It’s great that we’re able to try some things
out with a new team and new doubles teams and still win.”