On Friday, the UCLA women’s tennis team sat for hours and
waited hopelessly for the rain to ease up so it could take the
courts against Oregon. Just as it seemed the teams would be able to
begin the match, the clouds appeared yet again over the Los Angeles
Tennis Center, leaving the courts drenched and forcing the match to
be postponed two days. But on Sunday morning, the No. 14 Bruins
wasted no time getting off the courts as they shut out the Ducks
7-0. “It was a big win for us,” sophomore Tracy Lin
said. “Hopefully it’s raising everyone’s
confidence a little more.” Confidence is just what the Bruins
will need during this week as they are faced with the challenge of
playing crosstown rival USC two times within four days. On Sunday,
the Bruins started strong, capturing the doubles point with two
quick wins on courts No. 1 and No. 2, where the duos of Riza
Zalameda and Laura Gordon, and Elizabeth Lumpkin and Alex
McGoodwin, were able to quickly defeat their opponents. “I
was really impressed with the focus and concentration that we
started the match with,” UCLA coach Stella Sampras Webster
said. The team remained focused in singles play as the Bruins
jumped ahead to big leads on all the courts except the top court,
where Gordon initially found herself in a battle with
Oregon’s top player, Dominika Dieskova. But the senior from
Colorado was able to bounce back and capture the first set 7-5 and
had very little trouble continuing her success in the second set.
“We could’ve come out a little slow, but we all did a
good job and came out with wins,” Gordon said. Just a week
ago, the Bruins were forced off the courts on several occasions due
to rainy conditions, bringing a halt to their practice schedule.
The effects of the missed training were seen as the team returned
home with two losses to Stanford and California. However, with the
weather clearing up in the week prior to the match against Oregon,
UCLA was able to practice every day. “Everyone’s
playing better and we’ve been getting some more practice and
it was good to come back and beat them soundly,” McGoodwin
said. With the win, the Bruins raised their all-time record against
the Ducks to an impressive 10-0. UCLA now gets ready to close out
the Pac-10 season later this week against No. 4 USC. Though the win
boosted their conference record, it also provided the Bruins with a
sense of determination heading into perhaps their toughest week of
the season. “It’s nice to remember how it feels to
win,” Zalameda said. “Just looking at the score shows
how determined our team is because we have a big match on
Tuesday,” Sampras Webster added.
WEATHER CHANGE: The Bruins were also scheduled
to take on Cal Poly this week due to a postponement of a match that
was to be played earlier in the season. But the Mustangs have to
face off against a fellow conference school, Long Beach State, in a
rescheduled match prior to their conference tournament. Therefore,
the Bruins will no longer play the Mustangs this Wednesday as they
were expected to.