UCLA women’s tennis looks to maintain upper hand in new season
All the UCLA women’s tennis seniors, including Kaitlin Ray (pictured), are nationally ranked in the top 100. (Daily Bruin file photo)
By Aubrey Yeo
Jan. 23, 2015 12:13 a.m.
The Bruins seem to have momentum going in their favor as they look to begin defending their crown this weekend.
Even after UCLA women’s tennis’ 2014 campaign, in which it captured its second national championship, the awards still kept rolling into Westwood. Juniors Catherine Harrison and Kyle McPhillips were able to claim the doubles title in the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships in November, while the Bruins recently added two more singles titles on Sunday, when McPhillips clinched the National Collegiate Tennis Classic in La Quinta and sophomore Jennifer Brady won the Freeman Memorial Championships in Las Vegas.
But when the No. 1 Bruins face the Marshall Thundering Herd at the Los Angeles Tennis Center on Saturday and the winner between UC Irvine vs. Kansas State on Sunday, their prior successes will just be a thing of the past.
Although UCLA has found success throughout several preseason tournaments, when the NCAA season comes about, competitions begin to adopt a new format. Instead of tennis players all vying for the same tournament title, the women’s tennis team members will no longer be competing against one another while trying to contribute points to UCLA’s best-of-seven matchups against other schools.
The biggest predictor of UCLA’s potential success as it enters its title defense is the new lineup that will head into the 2015 season. The team has lost one member of its championship lineup, doubles player Courtney Dolehide, to graduation. But for the one senior leader that the Bruins have lost, they’ve found three to step in her place. Seniors Robin Anderson, Chanelle Van Nguyen and Kaitlin Ray all enter the season ranked at No. 2, 3 and 79 respectively.
But while the Bruins seem to be in good shape heading into their 2015 campaign, only their performance at this upcoming weekend’s matchups can show if they’re ready to capture a second straight NCAA championship.
Compiled by Aubrey Yeo, Bruin Sports senior staff.
