The No. 12 UCLA women’s tennis team’s end-of-the-year run proved to be crucial in garnering dividends.
With late season wins over Cal, Pepperdine and USC, the Bruins were able to notch the 12th seed in the NCAA Championships and will host an NCAA Regional after having had to travel to Malibu last season.
“It’s a good draw,” UCLA coach Stella Sampras Webster said.
“We’ve got opportunities to do well.”
The Bruins will first play host to Quinnipiac University, located in Hamden, Conn., on May 11. The Bobcats (12-6) qualified for the NCAA Championships by claiming their fourth consecutive Northeast Conference Championship in a come-from-behind victory over Long Island University.
In the other opening-round match of the Westwood Regional, San Diego State takes on Florida State with the winner advancing to play the winner of the Bruins’ matchup against the Bobcats.
From there, the draw becomes more difficult for the Bruins, as they could be scheduled to face fifth-seeded Northwestern, a team that handed UCLA one of its early-season losses at the National Team Indoor Championships.
However, the Bruins are confident in their improvement throughout the course of the season, and Sampras Webster feels that her team has increased their level of play as the season has progressed.
“We lost to Northwestern earlier in the season, but we’re definitely a different team,” she said. “I like our chances against them now that we have our doubles teams set and players playing well. I think we’ve got an excellent shot to beat them.”
Sampras Webster’s attitude is one that has trickled down to the players as well, who have been playing some of their best tennis in the last few matches.
The Bruins have also assured one another and have grown together throughout the season.
“I have a lot of confidence in this team that we will be able to take on Northwestern,” junior Riza Zalameda said.
If UCLA was able to upset Northwestern in the Round of 16 in Athens, Ga., a potential quarterfinal opponent would be fourth-seeded Florida, the team that ousted the Bruins in the Round of 16 in last year’s NCAA Championships in Palo Alto.
“That would be nice to get there and to play Florida and try to get them back after what they did to us last year,” Sampras Webster said of the possibility.
“That would be a great motivation.”
But for now, the Bruins will focus on the task at hand, Quinnipiac, before looking too far ahead.
“We’re just going to take it one match at a time and can’t overlook any team,” Sampras Webster said.
“We’re just going to take care of what we can do to prepare our team to play their best in this tournament.”
DUO CLAIMS PAC-10 TITLE: The doubles team of Zalameda and freshman Yasmin Schnack captured the Pac-10 Doubles Championship over the weekend in Ojai.
The tandem defeated Stanford’s Linday Burdette and Anne Yelsey 6-1, 6-0 in one of the most lopsided victories in the event’s history and became the first Bruin duo to do so since 2001.
“We played almost flawless,” Zalameda said.
“We were really focused and motivated to win that match. It was an awesome feeling.”
JOELSON RECEIVES HONOR: Sophomore Ashley Joelson was named the Pac-10 Player of the Week last week for her performance in a dual match against USC that she clinched for the Bruins. After going down 5-3 in the third set, she was able to turn the tables around and win in the tie-break to help UCLA avenge an earlier loss to the Trojans at home. It was the sophomore’s first such honor.
OTHER PAC-10 REPRESENTATIVES: The Bruins were a part of perhaps the most competitive conference this season, as several other Pac-10 teams were not only invited to the NCAA Championships, but also seeded high.
Stanford, the defending champion and winner of seven of the last 10 tournaments, received the overall No. 1 seed and is in the same bracket as No. 8 USC and at-large bid Oregon, two fellow conference schools.
Arizona State will be traveling to Berkeley to face one of 16 NCAA Regional hosts, Cal. Perhaps the most surprising at-large bid, however, is Arizona, as the Wildcats posted a mere 9-13 record this season.
GROUNDSTROKES: The Bruins defeated nine of the 64 teams in the tournament during the regular season. … All of UCLA’s seven losses have come to teams in the draw, with two coming to the Cardinal. … In the history of the NCAA Championships, UCLA has made it to the championship match three times, but came up short on all three occasions to Stanford, who Sampras Webster feels is more beatable this year than in the past. This could be seen in two close matchups between the Bruins and the Cardinal.