Women’s tennis splits to diversify competition at separate tournaments

The UCLA women’s tennis team will split into two groups this weekend to play in two separate tournaments, with one purpose in mind: divide and conquer.

In the final weekend before the start of the 2015 season, three players will compete in the National Collegiate Tennis Classic in La Quinta, Calif. while four others will travel to Las Vegas, Nev. for the Freeman Memorial Championships.

The UCLA women’s tennis team has sent players to different venues on the same weekend to participate in tournaments at least once annually during Stella Sampras Webster’s 19-year tenure as UCLA coach.

Sampras Webster said the reason for doing this is so that the players can diversify their preseason experience, but also so that the coaches can scout more players from different schools. Doing such scouting – especially on the freshman newcomers at other schools – has always given UCLA valuable information about the way these players compete in matches.

“It will be good for us to play against (players we haven’t seen before), and to scout them and just see where they are all at individually,” Sampras Webster said.

Sampras Webster will accompany sophomore Kelly Shaffer and juniors Kyle McPhillips and Catherine Harrison to the National Collegiate Tennis Classic, where all three players will compete in the singles draw. McPhillips and Harrison will also play in the doubles bracket.

Harrison competed in La Quinta her freshman season, played in Las Vegas last year, and said that playing in Vegas was an experience unlike any other, but is content with the fact that the coaches decided to have her return to play in La Quinta this season. Harrison added that regardless of where she is competing, the tournament play will provide her and her doubles partner with an excellent opportunity to refine their chemistry before the team season – which commences on Jan. 29 with a home match against Loyola Marymount.

“(McPhillips) and I had a great practice on Wednesday and had a lot of fun, which is important,” Harrison said. “We’re really looking forward to working on our doubles this tournament. We can always improve, so I think we both look at this tournament as a good chance to do that.”

Harrison and McPhillips, who were crowned champions at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y. in November, are currently ranked as the No. 1 doubles team in NCAA tennis.

While Harrison, McPhillips and Shaffer head to La Quinta, sophomore Jennifer Brady will be leading the Bruin contingent in Las Vegas as the No. 3 seed in the Freeman Memorial Championships. Brady will be joined by senior Kaitlin Ray, who holds the No. 8 seed, as well as freshmen Kristin Wiley and Terri Fleming.

Sampras Webster said that what she is looking forward to most in this tournament is for the Wiley and Fleming pair to also get more doubles experience together – something that the two freshmen have little of thus far.

For the women’s tennis team, 2015 has consisted of many onerous practices and fitness drills, and with the upcoming weekend sending players to two different tournaments, the team looks forward to gaining some live tournament experience and also the chance to prepare for players they could eventually face again later in the season.

“We are excited because we have been practicing really hard these first two weeks,” Sampras Webster said. “I’m happy with the level that the team is playing and the intensity and focus that we have had, so I am excited to see them compete and hopefully see the rewards of all our efforts these first two weeks.”