Women’s tennis sees new roster on court at ITA Kick-Off Weekend

New season, new faces.

No. 8 UCLA women’s tennis will open its season against Minnesota on Saturday at Los Angeles Tennis Center during the ITA Kick-Off Weekend. UCLA will play either Florida International or Loyola Marymount on Sunday.

“Everyone’s just excited to get the regular season started,” said coach Stella Sampras Webster. “(They’re) just trying to get into the mindset of playing for the team.”

Three freshmen – No. 11 Elysia Bolton, Taylor Johnson and Katie LaFrance – joined UCLA. They will have big roles to fill due to the departure of former players Ena Shibahara to the pro circuit and Terri Fleming and Kristin Wiley to graduation.

Shibahara, the reigning Pac-12 Singles Player of the Year, posted a 27-10 record in singles and a 28-4 mark in doubles. She has been a mainstay on UCLA’s top singles court for the past two years.

Fleming secured a 16-14 singles record and 20-13 doubles record.

“The freshmen are holding their own,” said senior Gabby Andrews. “They fit right in. All of them are getting along really well.”

Bolton had a successful fall season, defeating two ranked players en route to the quarterfinals of the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships. The former blue-chip prospect is 10-5 on the season. She made a run last weekend to the the semifinals of the Freeman Memorial Championships in doubles with redshirt junior Jada Hart, but had to forfeit due to precautionary measures taken regarding Hart’s lingering hamstring injury.

“We’ve both got really big serves,” Hart said. “We prefer for her to be at the net, but we’re both comfortable in either position.”

Hart will be back in the lineup this weekend.

“We’ve got three seniors, and they really want to do great,” Sampras Webster said. “They’re leading the team, especially the freshmen, to do the right things.”

Two of them – Andrews and senior Ayan Broomfield – formed UCLA’s second court doubles team last year. The nationally ranked No. 6 doubles pair went 12-5 overall last season, including 5-2 in ranked matchups.

The Minnesota Gophers logged a 14-12 record last season and failed to qualify for the postseason. Comparatively, UCLA notched a 23-6 overall record and were bounced out by Georgia Tech 4-3 in the NCAA quarterfinals. The FIU Panthers and LMU Lions went 17-3 and 17-6 last year, respectively. The Bruins have won all 24 matchups against the Lions.

“(We’re) looking forward to a great season,” Sampras Webster said. “We have a lot of travel in store for us this quarter and a lot of great opportunities for the players.”

Women’s water polo sinks competition in last tournament, aims for more in next one

The Bruins are slated to face two more top-25 teams after an undefeated first weekend.

No. 3 UCLA women’s water polo (5-0) will kick off its second weekend of the season at the Cal Cup at which they will face No. 13 UC Davis (2-1) and No. 17 Fresno State (1-3).

Junior attacker Bronte Halligan – who tallied two goals in the final game against No. 10 UC Santa Barbara – said the Bruins had to grind out the last two wins Sunday, but are looking forward to continue to hone in on the basics this weekend.

“Our energy and presence in the water as a team were pretty good last weekend,” Halligan said. “I loved that everyone was ready to jump in at any moment offensively. Defensively, we need to muscle up a bit better, but that’ll come as the season comes along.”

UC Davis is led by utility Annie Kutt, defender McKenna Hauss and attacker Marcela Portales. Kutt led the Aggies last season in total points with 84, scoring 36 times and also having the most assists with 48.

The Aggies opened their season and won their first two games by double digits. They cruised past Fresno Pacific in a 21-6 win and followed that with a 15-5 win over Santa Clara. UC lost to No. 14 San Jose State 12-9 in their Aggie Invite finale.

Last weekend, Aggies’ center Noelle Wijnbelt and Kutt led the way in goals with eight and seven, respectively, and earned two hat tricks a piece.

Fresno State competed in the UC Santa Barbara Invitational but did not end up with nearly the same amount of success as the Bruins did.

The Bulldogs are led by center Emily Nicholson and utility Callie Woodruff, their two top scorers from last season and All-Golden Coast Conference selections.

While the Aggies started their season with two double-digit wins, the Bulldogs started their season with two double-digit losses.

Fresno State’s first loss was to UCSB 15-5, followed by a 19-3 loss to reigning national champion No. 1 USC. Fresno State concluded the first weekend of the season with a win against No. 18 Indiana 12-7 and a 11-6 loss against No. 9 Michigan. Nicholson and Woodruff combined for 11 goals on the weekend.

This weekend, UCLA will also play two exhibition matches against No. 4 California and No. 2 Stanford.

“Even when it’s a scrimmage, it’s always fun to play one of the top-four teams,” said sophomore attacker Lexi Liebowitz. “Everyone is obviously very competitive and there are some great players on every team. There’s always a big crowd and it’s always super exciting.”

The Bruins could only gather one win in five contests against the Golden Bears and the Cardinal last season, including the loss to Cal in the third-place game of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament.

While these exhibitions won’t count towards UCLA’s record, coach Adam Wright said that the important thing to take away from them is how the team matches up against two of the best teams in the country for when the games count later in the season.

“Any time Pac-12 schools play each other, the rivalry is there and we’re constantly battling with those teams,” Wright said. “This weekend serves a little bit differently because it’s a great opportunity to develop players and get everybody some experience and have the only result be the answer to the question, ‘How did we do?'”

Men’s volleyball to travel south for rematch against UCSD Tritons

The Bruins will begin their road trip against a familiar opponent.

No. 7 UCLA men’s volleyball (5-2) will face UC San Diego (2-4) for the second time this season Friday night at the Recreation, Intramural, and Athletic Complex Arena in La Jolla, California. This is the first match of a series of three road games for the Bruins.

The Bruins have a chance to clinch their second win against the Tritons this season after earning split results from their home games last week against No. 10 UC Santa Barbara (5-3) and No. 1 Long Beach State (6-0).

The Bruins defeated the Tritons in four sets earlier this month and held them to a .066 hitting percentage. UCLA recorded a season-high 11 aces and 12.5 blocks, hitting for .365. The Bruins also had three players with double-digit kills.

Coach John Speraw said the Bruins will not change their approach for their next match.

“We need to focus on us,” Speraw said. “I don’t know that we’re gonna plan to approach them any differently. I think our approach right now needs to be consistent in terms of the way we play the game and how we handle any opponent.”

Senior outside hitter Dylan Missry – who led the Bruins in their match against UCSD with 16 kills along with two aces and two blocks – said UCLA will continue to work on minimizing errors as a team after it posted a season-high 20 errors in its loss to Long Beach State.

“We’ve been making quite a few unforced errors, so we’re swinging more for the core, trying to hit some hands to keep the ball in play a little more to cut down on those errors,” Missry said. “I think it’s more about us than them right now.”

UCSD has lost its last two games in straight sets on the road against No. 9 Lewis (5-2) and No. 5 Loyola Chicago (5-1). Outside hitter Wyatt Harrison has led UCSD with 52 kills on the season and has hit for .158.

Redshirt junior opposite Brandon Rattray, who had 13 kills and five blocks against the Tritons, said the Bruins have also been working on improving their out-of-system hitting as well as improving from the service line.

“Out-of system hitting is also another thing that we’ve been really hammering home,” Rattray said. “Just being patient and not getting too antsy and running up. Just continuing to work on chipping around the block and hitting the block.”

Speraw said UCLA continues to stress the importance of progressing as a team with every match, despite having to adjust to new players and systems.

“I don’t think that we’re going to necessarily be where we want to be until the very end of the year,” Speraw said. “I think if we go out and play our game, the way we’re capable of playing it, then I think we’ll be in a good position to compete well.”

Gymnastics sets bar high, flips through roster for weekend meet against Stanford

Valorie Kondos Field said the Bruins are looking to hit a complete meet this weekend.

“Our goal is to put four great events together,” the coach said. “We’ve put two together, three together, but we haven’t put four events together in a meet yet and we need to do that.”

No. 2 UCLA gymnastics (2-0, 1-0 Pac-12) will take on Stanford (0-1, 0-1) in Palo Alto on Sunday. Stanford’s only meet of the season culminated in a loss to No. 12 California (1-1, 1-0), who the Bruins beat at the Collegiate Challenge two weeks ago.

“Everybody needs to get 9.900s or higher on every event,” said sophomore Nia Dennis, who scored a 9.950 on vault against Arizona State. “I’ve really been improving in practice and working on my mindset to be confident in myself (to) be the best I can be for my team, to really show it and bring it out this weekend.”

Kondos Field said this expectation has led to higher stakes for those who want a spot in the lineup.

“The standard of this team is higher than we’ve ever had at UCLA,” Kondos Field said. “We used to think that if you’re consistently scoring a 9.850 you’ll get in the lineup. Well, now 9.850 is just kind of the norm on a good day. We need great on a good day and that’s 9.900s or higher.”

With various athletes coming in and out of the lineup due to injuries, others will have the chance to compete against Stanford.

Junior Felicia Hano will be back on floor this weekend for the first time since the meet against Nebraska on Jan. 4, and sophomore Kendal Poston, a walk-on, will be in the lineup for balance beam in place of senior Brielle Nguyen. Senior Katelyn Ohashi will also return to beam after only competing on floor Monday.

Hano, coming off a minor ankle injury, said even though the desire to hit a high score is present, the team’s main focus is on fixing small mistakes.

“We try not to think about the scores too much,” Hano said. “We try to focus on the little details, and if we hit those then we know that’s what’s going to push us over the edge.”

Though earning a spot in the lineup has gotten more competitive, Kondos Field said it has not affected the Bruins’ team chemistry.

“Team morale, support and connectivity is everything,” Kondos Field said. “I’m really impressed with our team because they’re fighting every week to get in the lineup. They’re asking us coaches, ‘What do I need to do to get in the lineup?’ and it hasn’t affected their camaraderie and how much they support each other, even those people coming in the lineup before them.”

Men’s tennis takes a swing at securing championship spot at upcoming weekend

It’s time for head-to-head competition in Westwood.

No. 7 UCLA men’s tennis will be facing unranked Indiana and the winner of the unranked San Diego and Ole Miss matchup for the ITA Kick-Off Weekend. Both matches will take place at the Los Angeles Tennis Center and will open the Bruins’ dual-match season.

UCLA coach Billy Martin said the team can’t underestimate any opponents, even if none of the teams they will face this weekend are ranked in the top 25.

“The (San Diego) team has a really mature, upperclassman team,“ Martin said. “The Ole Miss team is a good team also, and we don’t want to underestimate Indiana in any way as the first match. I think there will be a little bit of apprehension, especially with the younger guys, but we prepared mentally for it.”

Sophomore Bryce Pereira said the quality is high enough throughout college tennis that players need to bring urgency to every match.

“My dad would always tell me, ‘The ball is round’, meaning anything can happen,” Pereira said. “One set, deuce, no-ad, you let up even a little bit, and these guys are all over you. Every team has a chance to beat us.”

Freshman Mathew Tsolakyan said the consistency in quality every match is a part of the collegiate game that forces every player to grow.

“The college game is just more consistent,“ Tsolakyan said. “I just have to be more patient and more strategic in my game. No one’s going to miss a ball out of nowhere, so you have to solidly construct points.”

Martin said the rain out of their matches last week as well as the lost practice time wasn’t ideal for the Bruins’ preparation.

“I don’t like going into the kickoff weekend without having one match under (our belt),“ Martin said. “But, we’ve had to do it before. … It is what it is. There’s nothing we can do about it, and we have to go with the punches.”

Results from the ITA Kick-Off Weekend have major implications for the Bruins because the only way to qualify for the ITA indoor championships is to win both matches this weekend.

Martin said qualifying for the ITA indoor championships is a big step for the Bruins’ growth this season.

“It’s always something you have to earn, and getting there is very important,“ Martin said. “Because we will then see the top, top teams, probably the only chance we’ll see everybody until the NCAA (tournament), if we are fortunate enough to make the final site for the tournament this year.”

Old, new athletes in track and field to follow up on successful season debut

The Bruins are traveling to New York City after opening their season with 15 top-three finishes.

UCLA track and field will compete in the Dr. Sander Columbia Challenge on Friday and Saturday against a variety of teams from around the nation, including BYU, Duke, Florida State, Oklahoma, Syracuse and Ohio State.

Assistant coach Curtis Allen, who works primarily with sprinters, said he is excited for the coming meet after seeing his athletes complete their 2019 season debuts last week in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Collegiate Invitational.

“We had the No. 4-ranked recruiting class in the country this year, and it’s nice to work with (a larger group),” Allen said. “Everybody’s accountability and work ethic is great. We have a lot of really talented kids that I feel like will really blossom this season.”

UCLA’s sprinters have seen an influx of new talent under Allen and director Avery Anderson, including transfers, like sophomore Josh Pikes from Portland State, junior Harrison Schrage from Arkansas, sophomore Myles Webb and senior Cameron Stone, – both from Oregon – and freshman recruits, such as Chase Wells, Seth Holloway and Kyrah Johnson.

This new talent joins the ranks of veterans such as redshirt senior Leon Powell, who earned All-American Honorable Mention honors in 2017 as a member of UCLA’s 4×100-meter relay team, redshirt senior Joe Herrera, who finished 22nd at NCAA West Regionals in 2018 in the 400-meter dash, and senior Meleni Rodney, who won back-to-back state titles at the College of the Sequoias in the 400-meter dash in 2016 and 2017.

Holloway was the Georgia state champion in the outdoor 100-meter and 200-meter dashes in high school. Holloway said the adjustment to California life has not been too difficult for him to manage, despite the long journey from home.

“I’m adjusting really well. Going across the country was really nothing for me,” Holloway said. “All my teammates have helped me out with the transition; everybody’s really cool, we push each other every day and everybody wants to get to it.”

Johnson was a two-time outdoor Citrus Belt League champion in the 400-meter dash to the fold. she said she is ready to compete on the track again, despite missing nearly two months of training in the fall due to injury.

“At first I was extremely nervous, but once I got the baton everything shut out; it was just me chasing the other team,” Johnson said. “After (the race), I felt really good. Even upperclassmen were really excited with my performance because I was out for two months in the fall so I wasn’t expected to do anything (this early).”

Allen said he is very happy with the work ethic that the two freshmen have demonstrated early into their careers as Bruins.

“(Holloway) is unbelievably talented. He is a hard worker, driven, knowledgeable of the sport, and he wants to be the best,” Allen said. “(Johnson) just gives you everything she’s got, she’s probably one of the hardest working people on our team; at the end of the year, (with) the Pac-12 championships and things like that, she’s going to be a big contributor to the team.”