New doubles pairings show promise with victory against St. Mary’s
Junior Kamila Tan (left) and senior Zoë Nightingale (right) played their first game as a doubles pair in a 2-1 defeat over their St. Mary’s College opponents. (Aubrey Yeo/Daily Bruin senior staff)
Sand Volleyball
| No. 8 UCLA | 4 |
| No. 18 SAINT MARY'S (Calif.) | 1 |
By Aubrey Yeo
March 30, 2015 12:28 a.m.
It was a different experience for junior Kamila Tan as she stood across from her St. Mary’s College opponents.
It wasn’t just because it was the inaugural meet at UCLA sand volleyball’s Sunset Canyon Recreation Center facility. Nor was it the deeper sand and the diminished wind factor that came with those courts.
Now at the No. 2 doubles spot, Tan was assigned more defensive responsibilities in lieu of blocking. And there was a good reason for it – her new partner, senior Zoë Nightingale, just happens to be 6-foot-3.
“I was totally in the mindset of being a primary blocker when I was with my other partner, so in practice I was working on my blocking; they wouldn’t let me do defense much,” Tan said. “It’s a complete switch, but Zoë’s a good blocker so it makes it really easy for me to have a transition.”
There didn’t seem to be many growing pains for the pair in the No. 8 Bruins’ 4-1 win over the No. 18 Gaels, as they were able to beat their opponents 2-1 (21-17, 17-21, 15-12).
“There’s just been a lot of switching teams around, so I think we’ve all been ready to play everyone,” Nightingale said. “We tried out some different things and (Kamila) and I were doing pretty well together.”
With Tan now playing at the No. 2 spot and freshman Ivey Schmitt moving to No. 5 doubles, the Bruins needed a new No. 1 pair and they found one in fifth-year senior Madie Smith and freshman Elise Zappia.
It’s a team coach Stein Metzger often called his “most stable” team, and it was the duo’s consistency in practice that earned Smith and Zappia the No. 1 doubles spot.
“Once we tried out the teams in practice we just found out that nobody could beat Madie and Elise,” Metzger said. “So by the rules, I’m supposed to play them at the one spot.”
It wasn’t as successful of a match debut for the UCLA (3-0) No. 1 doubles pair, however. Smith and Zappia took the first set 21-18, but the pair would relinquish the advantage and lose the next two sets 21-11, 15-10 to a St. Mary’s (3-8) pair of Dalas Dodd and Samantha Tinsley.
Although the team made its debut at the No. 1 spot in a losing effort, Metzger said Smith and Zappia playing against more experienced opponents would help in their efforts to improve throughout the season.
“Dalas Dodd has played in three national championships in the pairs so it’s an experienced team, it’s a good team,” Metzger said. “It’s a good test for those two, but we certainly have room to improve.”
Although UCLA remains undefeated in team competition, the team has also posted three losses at No. 1 doubles. And with an upcoming schedule consisting of mostly high-caliber West Coast opponents, Metzger said his players will have to fight hard to get UCLA’s first victory at that spot.
“It’s a tall order; there’s a lot of really good teams, especially on the West Coast, at the one spot,” Metzger said. “So no matter who plays at that position, they’re going to have really tough matches and it’s going to be hard to win all the matches.”
