Junior Kelly Shaffer looked to be down for the count Friday afternoon when she walked back to the baseline, behind 6-1 in the first set tiebreaker. But she had not yet shifted her focus and energy to the second set.
“My forehand and slice backhand were key,” Shaffer said. “She (was) very off and on – she’d hit some winners, but I knew if I stayed with it and forced her to hit more balls, I would have a better shot (at victory).”
The momentum shift Shaffer was looking for came after she battled back to make it 6-5. Her opponent, Washington State’s Victoria Matejevic, thought she had clinched the set after she had called Shaffer’s return on a ball to be out. The official overturned the call, awarding Shaffer the point.
“(Matejevic) got really angry and started to hit balls wide,” Shaffer said.
That was all the help Shaffer needed, as she took the tiebreaker 8-6, and parlayed that into a 7-6 (8-6), 6-2 win – her first victory of the season.
Shaffer’s win was part of a successful outing for the entire squad, as No. 27 UCLA (9-3) romped over No. 47 Washington State (13-2) by a score of 6-1.
After taking its Pac-12 opener, the team continued conference play with a 5-2 victory over the No. 41 Washington Huskies (9-6), who visited Saturday afternoon.
Freshman Alaina Miller struggled initially against the Huskies’ Tami Grende, dropping the first set, before rallying to win 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4). She has been bothered by a back injury for the past few days, but persevered to notch her fourth-straight singles victory in dual match play.
“I tried to come to the net more than I usually do. I was winning with my serve,” said Miller on her comeback win.
Seniors Catherine Harrison and Kyle McPhillips both took straight-set victories. Harrison, the No. 19 player in the country, took it 6-2, 6-2 over Nour Abbes and McPhillips 7-5, 6-3 over No. 99 Stacey Fung.
Coach Stella Sampras Webster was pleased with the girls’ performances and emphasized that the team remained focused on each individual match, not getting fazed by the schedule.
“We take it one match at a time – the next (one) is our most important match of the season right now,” said Sampras Webster. “We take it like that instead of looking forward to the rest of the matches we have to play.”
UCLA hits the road this week for what will be the toughest part of its schedule, with matches against No. 2 Cal on Friday and then No. 20 Stanford on Saturday.
Email Ishan Ayyalasomayajula at iayyalasomayajula@media.ucla.edu.