UCLA is having a stellar start thanks to the play of freshmen (left to right) Kaitlin Ray, Chanelle Van Nguyen, Robin Anderson and Skylar Morton.
Kaitlin Ray’s eyes filled with tears as she spoke of her parents and the unconditional support they have given her to pursue her career as a tennis player.
A Little Rock, Ark., native, Ray is more than 1,600 miles away from home.
Sitting next to her is fellow freshman Chanelle Van Nguyen, who offered her support by embracing Ray.
A Miami native, Van Nguyen is more than 2,700 miles away from home.
Acts such as this exemplify the relationship that exists between four of the freshmen on the UCLA women’s tennis team.
“We knew each other coming in from juniors, but then you spend so much time together once you get here, and then being in the team only makes you that much more united,” Ray said.
“I think we have become great friends off the courts, and I think that translates to how we act on the court when we are competing alongside one other. You can tell how close we are.”
Coming from successful junior careers, the quadruple alliance of Robin Anderson, Skylar Morton, Ray and Van Nguyen have bonded together while adjusting to playing college-level tennis.
The most important difference between juniors and college tennis consists of replacing individuality with team effort.
In college tennis, there is a squadron comprised of teammates and fans supporting and encouraging the team at every point. In juniors, there was no coach advising, nor any teammates cheering; the only thing that counted was the bond between the player and her racquet.
“(In college tennis), you are not only representing yourself, but your team, your school, UCLA,” Van Nguyen said.
Van Nguyen takes a lot of pride in playing for the Bruins, since UCLA was her dream school from a young age.
“I’d always wanted to go to UCLA. I remember when I was younger, (there was) a USTA camp in Carson and my friend and I always were like, “˜We want to go to Hollywood, we want to go to Hollywood,’ so we begged the coaches to take us,” Van Nguyen said.
“One of the moms (said) we should go visit colleges even though we were 12. We didn’t want to, but she made us visit (UCLA), and we were like, “˜We are definitely coming here when we’re older.’ And now I’m here,” she added.
Just like Van Nguyen, Anderson, a Matawan, N.J., native, takes a lot of pride in being able to play for a team and having the opportunity to work towards a collective goal.
“Just like being able to work hard every single day and know that you are working toward becoming better and working toward a greater goal, and then also just having a good attitude every single day (is the key to a successful tennis career),” she said.
“You know everybody has their bad days, but still being able to push through and show that on the court (is the key).”
Morton, a Bethesda, Md., native, shares Anderson’s sentiment. She wants to take it step by step and get the most out of her collegiate career. The goals she sets now will transform her into a better player and hopefully propel her into the pros.
“My goals are probably during college to be undefeated, I don’t know if that’ll work out, but (I’ll) do the best I can on whatever spot I can play in. After (college), I want to play pro tennis. I cannot imagine stopping after I graduate,” Morton said.
Morton’s success on the courts can be a reflection of who she is as a person off of them.
“As a person, I am crazy. I wouldn’t say I am high energy because sometimes I’m chill. I’m really spontaneous, and on the court, I’m also aggressive; I have an aggressive style of playing. I’ll just hit like anything that goes my way. I like to describe myself as a honey badger,” she said.
Their style of play and their mental toughness consolidate these four freshmen as some of the top players in the country.
“I think you don’t get to this level without being a good tennis player, but what separates the very best players are those who can handle it mentally and who compete the best,” Ray said.
Anderson also emphasized the importance of a strong mentality.
“I mean, you spend most of the tennis match not even hitting a tennis ball. So the mental part is definitely the biggest part of a tennis match,” she said.
Their success lies in their passion, confidence and perseverance to become better. But more than anything, it lies in their ability to dream big and believe in what they can accomplish as a team.
“I think that what we lack in experience collegiately, we bring with our energy and our competitiveness, and I think we make up for that. I think so far, we’ve proven that we’re able to handle the pressure like in National Indoors, and we’re able to just go out there and compete. It doesn’t matter if we’re playing a freshman or a senior, it doesn’t matter, we’re just going to go and do our best,” Ray said.
Even though they are a young team, the Bruins have shown they can compete against the best teams in the country and emerge victorious. As part of the singles lineup, the four freshmen contributed with 12 points to help UCLA win its first-ever ITA National Team Indoor Championship.
But one win is not enough; these players are hungry for more titles and more competition. They want to continue having a memorable freshman year and that means competing for the NCAA Championship.