Despite victories, tennis keeps focus on tough Baylor match ahead
By Sara Salam
March 9, 2008 9:13 p.m.
Coming off a 5-2 victory over crosstown rival No. 7 USC last Thursday, No. 6 UCLA has since been preparing to host the No. 11 Baylor Bears today at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.
Despite the adrenaline-inducing and physically straining climactic finish elicited by the match against USC, coach Billy Martin said that resting easy is not an option when preparing to face a premier team like Baylor.
“We (practiced over the weekend), trying not to get too big a head and feeling too good about ourselves because they’re another great team,” Martin said. “We have to come out and be prepared and fight just as hard (against Baylor) as we did (against USC).”
With consecutive matches against ranked teams, the Bruins have little margin for error, especially when it comes to their mental preparations.
Prior to USC, UCLA posted a lopsided 7-0 victory over No. 13 Rice. But even with such a large margin of victory, Martin hints that there are many lessons to be learned in every match.
“These matches are building blocks,” Martin said, “Especially for the younger guys, namely the freshmen, (Nick) Meister and (Harel) Seguso.
“They haven’t experienced too many of these big exciting college matches with guys yelling nasty things at them.” Martin added, referring to some of the obscenities being thrown around in the match against USC.
Martin went on to point out that such negative distractions would serve as a valuable learning experience for his younger players.
He also applauded the collaborative spirit that his team puts forth, regardless of the intensity of the match. He attributes the team’s successes, at least in part, to the players’ dedication to winning and to each other.
“This has been the best camaraderie (among a) team that I’ve had in maybe my entire coaching career,” Martin said. “It really is amazing, and I think that has really contributed to our success.”
WOMEN WIN SATURDAY: The No. 9 women’s team shut out Washington State to cruise to a 7-0 victory Saturday at LATC.
The win pushed the Bruins’ record to 11-4. It was their second win of the conference season.
