Women’s tennis sees room to improve after win over LMU
Junior Robin Anderson said that although she won her sets “pretty easily,” she still found areas in which she could improve.
By Sam DeMello
Jan. 30, 2014 4:23 a.m.
The UCLA women’s tennis team is off to a hot start this season, but it has not come without some challenges. The Bruins look to use these challenges to develop their game and sharpen their skills for the future.
Despite tough resistance from Loyola Marymount, and some uncharacteristic mistakes, the UCLA women’s tennis team managed to obtain a 7-0 victory.
Although the Bruins won every match, there were times when things did not go their way, but the Bruins never let the trouble deflate their spirit.
“I don’t think we played our best at spots, but we competed really well,” said coach Stella Sampras Webster.
The competitive spirit of the Bruins was evident, especially when freshman Kelly Shaffer fell behind 4-1 in her second set, only to fight back to win 7-5.
“I felt like I played well and I played through (LMU’s Ellie Grossman’s) streaks of good tennis and just kept my composure,” Shaffer said.
Although many sets were closer than the Bruins might have liked, the team believes that the challenge taught an important lesson in mental toughness.
Senior Courtney Dolehide also put on strong performances in doubles and singles to help the Bruins to a win. She reiterated the importance of playing through adversity.
“I don’t think that we all played our best tennis, but that’s not really the point,” Dolehide said. “The point is fighting through the match, so I think we all competed well and we all ended up winning.”
Regardless of any wins, the Bruins are highly focused on using the early season to prepare for tougher competition.
“It’s great to win, but I want to make sure they use these matches to improve. When we play a team like LMU we expect to really dictate and control the matches,” Sampras Webster said.
Even the Bruins who won their sets easily noticed that there were parts of their game that could use improvement.
“I didn’t play my best, but I still won pretty easily,” said junior Robin Anderson. “My serve was on today, but my groundstroke didn’t have the same rhythm that I normally have.”
Despite their talent and their ability to win over most teams in the country, the Bruins remain humble and eager to improve.
“This year we just try to get better every match,” Anderson said. “Early in the season, we try to focus on things that we want to get better at, so that it will help us later in the season.”
