Team to take on Bulldogs after needed break

  MICHAEL MANTEL Junior Sara Walker is
ready to defeat Fresno State thanks to four days off and a trip to
Texas.

By Eric Perez
Daily Bruin Contributor

Week 6, the cold midpoint of the quarter, a time when sleep
deprived nights, high stress, stubbed cigarettes, consumed coffee
and other forms of harsh academic pressure prevail throughout the
undergraduate land.

The UCLA women’s tennis team, though, actually enjoyed a
brief respite in their workload: they were given four days off.

And it could not have come at a better time.

“I just tried to catch up on sleep because last week I had
midterms and so everybody knows how that goes in college,”
senior Petya Marinova said.

Granted, the Bruins still had midterms of their own to handle,
but this time off was a welcome release from the rigors of NCAA
tennis.

“It was just nice to not have to think about tennis at
all,” freshman Megan Bradley said. “Regardless if it
was one day or four days. When we played ‘SC two weeks ago
and we were so mentally into that the pressure just kept building
up and building up, and to have that release was really
nice.”

Four days off for a tennis player who competes year-round is
almost a mini-vacation.

“We all needed it,” said junior Sara Walker, who
went with sophomore Lauren Fisher to Austin, Texas to visit her
brother Scott, a freshman tennis player for the University of
Texas.

“I think everybody was a little bit burnt out and everyone
needed a weekend just to regroup,” she continued.

Now the Bruins come back invigorated and take on Fresno State
today at 1:30 p.m. at the L.A. Tennis Center followed by a short
trip to Malibu to face off against Pepperdine at noon on
Saturday.

And what a difference a week makes.

Just last week Fresno State was ranked No. 9 with UCLA (4-0)
still ranked at No. 15. This week the Bruins are No. 11 and the
Bulldogs (3-2) have dropped to No. 17 after a couple of losses at
the National Team Indoors.

It is a little surprising that UCLA did not crack the Top 10
given their strong fall season and dominating performances across
the board this season. Yet national voters still seem to be
somewhat skeptical of the Bruins’ early success this
year.

“It’s kind of hard to rank our potential, because
potentially we could be ranked in the top five, but they
can’t go on that based on what happened last year,”
Bradley said.

Last year the Bruins peaked at No. 6 before a rash of injuries
contributed to a ten dual-match losing streak. So for now, the
Bruins will relish the underdog role.

“I like being the underdog because no one expected us to
do as well as we’re doing, and now we’re proving
ourselves, and it’s nice to work to get where you want to
be,” Walker said.