Quest for high NCAA Tournament seed continues for women's tennis team as it prepares for Arizona teams, heat and altitude
Freshman Courtney Dolehide and the No. 8 Bruins play Arizona today and Arizona State on Saturday in two of their six straight road matches.
Women’s tennis
Arizona
Today, 1:30 p.m.
Tucson, Ariz.
By Jason Wang
April 8, 2011 1:57 a.m.
The key to a successful road trip is to reach the destination as smoothly as possible.
The last thing any traveler would want is to stall in the middle of the Arizona desert.
The No. 8 UCLA women’s tennis team is in the midst of a six-match road trip to close out the regular season and will be traveling through the Grand Canyon State this weekend. The Bruins will face Arizona today and Arizona State on Saturday.
UCLA hopes that its final destination will be a high seed in the NCAA Tournament, but these two Pac-10 rivals pose hazardous road bumps for the team.
“It’s difficult to play in Arizona,” UCLA coach Stella Sampras Webster said. “Our players need to know that they’re going to face some adversity.”
To prepare for the trip, the Bruins have focused on the basics, working on their strokes and addressing their weakness in doubles play.
With the regular season winding down, the Bruins have limited time for fine-tuning before tournament play begins, but UCLA has not lost sight of its season-long goal of improving with each match.
“We’ve been really focused on each player individually (during practice),” Sampras Webster said. “We’re still looking for improvement … and the players are doing a good job of preparing themselves for each match they play.”
Preparation for traveling also goes beyond the mental aspects. Not wanting to be at a disadvantage when playing in Arizona, the Bruins have been practicing with a lighter tennis ball, one that is supposed to simulate the movement of a regular tennis ball played in the climates and altitudes of Tucson and Tempe.
“It’s just good to get used to the change so we’re prepared when we get there,” freshman Courtney Dolehide said. “But we all need to adjust a little bit. It’s still going to be different when we go there.”
To no one’s surprise, Arizona (15-6, 2-3 Pac-10) is comfortable playing in its state’s climate, winning all eight home matches by at least a three-point margin.
But when away from heat, the Wildcats’ play is much tamer, including a recent cold streak where they dropped matches against Washington and California.
The bigger threat to the Bruins may be No. 15 Arizona State (13-5, 3-2).
The Sun Devils have had success comparable to the Wildcats’, but with a much tougher schedule.
Highlights of the Sun Devils’ season have been upsets over USC and California, as well as close matches with elite teams Duke and Miami.
Despite the challenge, the Bruins are approaching these matches with the same mindset they have had during the entire season.
“We’re doing the same thing we usually do going into these matches,” junior Carling Seguso said. “Just because we’re supposedly better doesn’t mean we prepare differently.”
For Arizona and Arizona State, matches against USC and UCLA will be the last contests they play before facing each other, so strong attendance is expected.
“They usually have really good crowds and fans,” Sampras Webster said. “We really need to match their intensity and energy.”
