ATHENS, Ga. “”mdash; The platform was set for the Bruins to make their claim as a legitimate national title contender.
The last time UCLA reached the pinnacle of women’s college tennis was in 2008, the program’s first ever NCAA championship.
And although the Bruins came up a bit short in last season’s bid at repeating, 2010 seemed to be the year that UCLA could legitimize itself as women’s college tennis royalty.
The Bruins entered the 2010 NCAA Tournament having only lost three matches on the season, each in narrow fashion to a more than worthy opponent.
So heading into their round of 16 match Thursday, which pitted the 2008 national champion Bruins against last year’s national champion, the Duke Blue Devils, UCLA had the opportunity to make a statement.
And they almost did.
In a gritty and epic battle, the No. 10 seeded Blue Devils ousted the No. 7 seeded Bruins by a score of 4-2, a figure that does not do justice to how tightly contested the match actually was.
But in UCLA coach Stella Sampras Webster’s mind, there is no such thing as a moral victory.
All she and her team know is that their bright season has come to an end in disappointing fashion; they were outplayed by a scrappy Blue Devils squad.
“We’ve had a great season, but Duke just played better than we did today,” Sampras Webster said after the match. “I’m disappointed that we didn’t play the way we know we can play. But that’s the way sports is. They played better.”
There were glimpses of the UCLA team that finished the season with 19 wins and just three losses, but an experienced Duke team turned those glimpses into nothing more than blips on the radar, seemingly out-willing the Bruins in both doubles and singles play.
Possibly the biggest moment of the match took place early, when UCLA ““ notorious for grabbing the early lead with its stellar doubles play led by the No. 4 doubles team in the nation in senior Yasmin Schnack and junior Andrea Remynse ”“ lost the doubles point, surprising players and coaches alike.
“I thought that we had better doubles team than they did,” Sampras Webster said. “I was counting on winning that, but we just didn’t come out strong and they did.”
Schnack and Remynse came out flat from the get-go, and were attacked by the duo of Ellah Nze and Amanda Grinson, the No. 32 doubles tandem in the country, from the start of the match. Schnack and Remynse looked tentative and allowed Nze and Grinson to control the match from beginning to end, resulting in a 8-5 loss, clinching the doubles point for the Blue Devils.
“It was the worst time to have a bad day,” Schnack said. “We were not executing. We weren’t really being disciplined and going for our targets. I’m extremely upset with myself about that. I feel like I let (Andrea Remynse) down and the team. The doubles point is really crucial.”
Duke coach Jamie Ashworth also commented on the outcome of the doubles point, implying that he knew his team would need a mix of aggression and good fortune to capture the doubles point from the Bruins, especially if they hoped to defeat Schnack and Remynse on court No. 1.
“I thought that we had the advantage at (court No. 2) on paper, and we tried to sneak out one at (courts No. 1 and No. 3),” Ashworth said. “The way we started at (court No. 1) was great. Yasmin (Schnack) is probably one of the best doubles players in the country and they put Yasmin on her heels right from the start. They were able to capitalize on that. That was a huge win for us.”
However, after their disappointing doubles defeat, the Bruins came out smoking in singles play, winning four of a possible six first sets.
On court No. 1, Schnack blanked Duke’s Nze in the first set. UCLA freshman Pamela Montez also dazzled in the first set, storming past Granson to the tune of 6-1. Juniors Noelle Hickey and Maya Johansson also won their first sets in convincing fashion.
But as their singles matches progressed, the Bruins seem to lose focus, while the Blue Devils were only gaining steam.
Schnack, Montez, Hickey and Johansson each lost in their respective second sets, and only Schnack and Johansson went on to win their matches in three sets. Both Montez and Hickey squandered third set leads and went on to lose their individual matchups.
“I know coming into singles, I felt really good,” Sampras Webster said. “And we were up in a lot of the singles. We played tough, but we didn’t win a couple three-setters, and it came down to big points and finishing sets off.”
However, the most disappointing singles defeat belonged to Hickey.
The junior transfer led 4-0 in the third set before allowing Duke’s Elizabeth Plotkin to claw her way back in the match. Still, Hickey led 5-4 and had the opportunity to serve for the match.
She was unsuccessful.
Plotkin broke Hickey to even the third set at five and then went on to win the match in a tiebreak, clinching the round of 16 victory for the Blue Devils.
After the match, Ashworth could only describe the contest in one way.
“It felt like a heavyweight fight,” he said. “It just felt like blow after blow to both teams. It was probably one of the most physical matches we’ve played in a long time.”