It’s a brand new quarter, but the No. 9 UCLA women’s
tennis team isn’t necessarily looking for a fresh start.
Before their shutout loss to top-ranked Stanford last Saturday,
the Bruins had won six matches in a row, including their 4-3 win
over No. 11 Cal on Friday.
But the start of the spring quarter does give the Bruins (12-6,
3-1 Pac-10) a slight advantage over their opponents, including
Pepperdine, who visits the Los Angeles Tennis Center today.
With the academic workload not yet in full swing, the UCLA team
is able to focus even more on tennis during the next few weeks.
“The players can get more sleep and are mentally fresher
before all the midterms,” coach Stella Sampras Webster
said.
The players themselves had similar sentiments.
“School plays such a big role for us,” sophomore
Feriel Esseghir said.
“Later, there’s going to be more stress and other
components like lack of sleep that we also have to deal
with.”
Today will be the team’s third and final Wednesday match
during conference play, and the players are enjoying the change
from a full week of practice.
“I like it,” sophomore Jackie Carleton said.
“It breaks things up.”
“It’s nice to see where we’re at,”
freshman Daniela Bercek added.
In their previous meeting with the Waves, the Bruins won in
Malibu, 5-2.
One of those two losses was Bercek’s default in the first
set because of a foot injury.
With Bercek’s foot no longer such a pressing concern, and
with the homecourt advantage, the Bruins are clear favorites to
sweep the Waves once again.
“We always play better here,” Sampras Webster said.
“But Pepperdine is scary because they do have a lot of
talent.”
The addition of Caroline Raba, who will likely face Bercek at
the No. 2 position, will make the Waves’ lineup much more
formidable this time around.
“I’m not expecting an easy match,” Bercek
said.
For the 12th straight match, the Bruins will be without Alex
McGoodwin, who is still recovering from a pulled stomach
muscle.
“It’s a weird injury,” McGoodwin said.
“I’ve been out a lot longer than I thought.”
Although she has been participating in practice workouts, the
freshman is still awaiting medical clearance to play in
matches.
She hopes this will happen soon, but Sampras Webster wants to
make sure she is in match condition.
“We don’t want to throw her in there without having
practiced hard,” Sampras Webster said.
McGoodwin might return to the lineup as early as this
weekend’s matches against No. 6 Washington and Washington
State.