Women’s tennis opens season today
By Daniel Khayat
Jan. 20, 2009 10:20 p.m.
After a grueling and trying preseason tournament schedule that started back in late October and lasted until Sunday, the moment the UCLA women’s tennis team has been waiting for is finally here.
The No. 3 Bruins take on the Cal State Northridge Matadors at the Los Angeles Tennis Center at 1:30 p.m. today in their first official match as defending national champions.
Coach Stella Sampras Webster is looking forward to the matchup to get a more concrete grasp of how her players will fare once the Pac-10 season begins in March against USC.
“I think we should do well against CSUN,” Sampras Webster said. “We definitely have a very talented team, and I think it’s going to be a great match for us just as an opener to get the butterflies out for all the freshmen.”
UCLA’s stellar freshmen class includes the trio of Carling Seguso, Jordan Dockendorf and Nina Pantic.
Pantic will not play until the USC match due to eligibility issues.
“(Pantic) is definitely one of the players that will be playing in the top six,” Sampras Webster said. “Our bottom half has got to really step up and be able to handle the pressure of playing. We need them to win.”
UCLA’s returners will need to step up to fill the void left by the departure of four standout seniors from last year’s championship team.
Tracy Lin, Riza Zalameda, Elizabeth Lumpkin and Alex McGoodwin all graduated last spring, and all four played a pivotal role in UCLA’s title run, amassing a combined singles record of 66-19 in dual matches and 45-22 in tournament play. Lin and Zalameda also finished the season as the ITA Doubles Team of the Year.
“(Our returners) have got some big shoes to fill,” Sampras Webster said. “Our top two or three players really need to continue to step up. Our No. 1 and No. 2, Andrea (Remynse) and Yasmin (Schnack), played No. 3 and No. 4 for us last year, so they’ve got to really be able to feel the confidence to be able to play and win at those spots.”
Junior Yasmin Schnack is also concerned about the loss of the four seniors but is confident that she and her teammates can make up for the departures.
“Last year we had so much talent at every spot,” Schnack said. “And this year, we definitely don’t have a Riza, we don’t have a Liz, and we don’t have a Tracy, so we have to just compete hard for every single point.”
In doubles, the ITA’s No. 11-ranked tandem of Schnack and Joelson will not be paired together, despite their ranking.
Instead, Schnack will team up with Remynse to form UCLA’s No. 1 doubles team.
The pair won the doubles draw at the National Collegiate Tennis Classic last weekend.
Northridge will be without last year’s second-team All-Big West player Kanykey Koichumanova, who graduated, and senior Sandra Kukla, who will be out until March following shoulder surgery.
For the Matadors, who finished the 2008 season in third place in the Big West with a conference record of 7-3 and an overall record of 14-8, today’s clash with the Bruins is not so much an insurmountable challenge as it is a testament to their program’s reputation, according to Northridge coach Gary Victor.
“Of course, UCLA is coming off a national championship and will be very tough,” Victor said in a press release before the season. “It is a difficult test, but a statement to our program that they want to play us.”
The Bruins are looking to make a statement of their own this afternoon and lay to rest any rumors that the departure of last year’s talented seniors will derail the program’s first ever repeat attempt.
