Anxious to move on after last week’s debacle at the
National Indoors, the UCLA women’s tennis team looked to
regain a little momentum going into the Pac-10 season.
It did just that and then some.
The No. 11 Bruins dismantled No. 22 Fresno State 7-0 Saturday at
the Los Angeles Tennis Center, despite playing without the services
of No. 1 singles player Daniela Bercek who is still out with a
shoulder injury.
Leading the way for the team was freshman Riza Zalameda who slid
into the No. 1 singles spot in Bercek’s absence and quickly
dispatched Lucia Tallo 6-2, 6-1.
“We didn’t play as well as we wanted to last
week,” Zalameda said. “So this is definitely a big
boost for our confidence.”
UCLA (5-2) started out strong by sweeping the doubles matches
and went on to take five out of six singles matches in straight
sets. Outside of redshirt freshman Alex McGoodwin, no Bruin gave up
more than four games in a set.
It meant that by the time McGoodwin rallied back to force a
third set tiebreak on Court 3, she could take solace knowing the
match’s outcome was secure. Her win in the supertiebreak
punctuated the most hard-fought match of the day for the Bruins, a
4-6, 7-6 (6), (10-6) win that ensured the shutout.
“I knew that everyone else had finished their match and we
were up 6-0,” McGoodwin said.
“So I was able to loosen up a bit and get by even though I
wasn’t playing my best.”
Despite the drubbing against a team that they only squeaked by
4-3 in last year’s match, UCLA coach Stella Sampras Webster
doesn’t believe that her team is hitting on all cylinders
just yet.
“I wasn’t really happy with how we played
doubles,” Sampras Webster said. “We came out a little
flat. Against a better team, we could’ve had some trouble.
But it was a good match for us. It’s always good to win every
match.”
The Bruins will hit the court again Friday at home against
Arizona State to open up the Pac-10 season.