After losing four seniors from their 2008 national championship team, UCLA women’s tennis has had a hard time finding doubles teams to replace its former winning combinations.
This weekend, the team continues its search to find the best pairs as they enter into the final two tournaments of the preseason, the National Collegiate Tennis Classic in Palm Desert and the UNLV Invitational in Las Vegas, before starting regular season play on Jan. 21. The team, however, remains confident that things will work out.
“It’s a little nerve-wracking,” junior Yasmin Schnack said. “Last year we pretty much had everything set and knew who was going to play with whom. This year it’s kind of a little bit of a scramble but I think we are starting to see who has chemistry together and who can play together.
“Eventually it will all come together.”
Coach Stella Sampras Webster is using the tournaments as an evaluation of the teams.
“We hope they (the doubles pairs) get some good results this weekend and show us they can be a team,” Sampras Webster said. “It’s a great opportunity for us to see what our doubles teams can do, especially playing against teams outside of our conference. It will be a good test of where they are at and if it would be a good combination.”
The team will be split up, as some players will travel to one tournament and some to the other, but they predict the separation will not cause any problems.
“It’s OK,” senior Ashley Joelson said. “I always like traveling as a team, but as long as everybody is getting good matches in, then I think we’ll be fine.”
Sampras Webster shares a similar sentiment about this upcoming weekend.
“We’ve been playing these two tournaments, I think ever since they started … so, it’s a great opportunity for our players to get a lot of match play before the season starts,” she said. “They are very strong tournaments and they will get competition outside of our conference. It will help them individually. The main thing is getting them match play and getting them ready for the season.”
The two tournaments also offer up the first possibility for match play since Nov. 2, giving the team a way to get back into competition before the season begins.
“They are important to everyone,” Sampras Webster said. “We want our players to be feeling good and feeling confident. If they do well, they will feel good going into the season. We are hoping our young ones get a lot of match play and get used to playing.”
After this weekend, the style of play will be changing for the regular season, where the dual matches with one other team will begin.
This will be an adjustment for several of the players because it will be their first season as Bruins, including five freshmen and one transfer. However, the team’s older players are looking forward to the opportunity to show them what to do.
“My role is to lead everybody and to