With her team’s season on the line, freshman Yasmin Schnack was able to fight her way back into the third set of her match and clinch a spot in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Championships for the No. 12 UCLA women’s tennis team.
With the Bruins (18-7) ahead of No. 17 Florida State 3-2 on Sunday afternoon, it seemed as though the Seminoles might pull off an impressive comeback with sophomore Tracy Lin and Schnack still battling in the third sets of their respective matches.
“We knew it was going to be tough,” UCLA coach Stella Sampras Webster said. “I knew it was going to be a battle.”
Perhaps the most intense battle of the match came at court No. 3 midway through the third set, when Schnack and her opponent, Seminoles’ Ania Rynarzewska, exchanged points back and forth before the Bruin freshman finally broke Rynarzewska’s serve to take a 4-3 lead in the decisive third set.
Though she was able to step up to the challenge while playing in just her second singles match of her first-ever NCAA Championships, Schnack masked her nerves, although she definitely felt them.
“I was so nervous,” Schnack said. “I was really tight, especially with my returns.”
But once the freshman was able to get her returns in and stay consistent with her ground strokes, she immediately seized control of the match to clinch the Round of 32 win for her team.
“Yasmin’s a freshman, but she’s so great,” senior captain Alex McGoodwin said.
“We’re not even that nervous when she’s one of the last ones on because we know that she’s a really strong player; she’s really mentally strong.”
“That’s what NCAAs are all about ““ coming down to a point, a person, a match,” Sampras Webster said.
“But that’s what you’ve got to love: the battle.”
McGoodwin, along with junior Elizabeth Lumpkin, won their singles matches on courts No. 5 and No. 6, respectively, to help set the stage for Schnack’s triumph.
With the win, the Bruins clinched their eighth consecutive Sweet 16 appearance, in which they are set to face off against No. 5 Northwestern. The Wildcats defeated Indiana 4-1 in the Round of 32 in Athens, Ga.
UCLA suffered a 5-2 loss to the Wildcats earlier this season at the National Team Indoor Championships, and the Bruins are eager to travel eastward for a rematch. “We’re definitely looking for a little revenge,” McGoodwin said.
“We’re really excited.”