Strong doubles play leads to weekend

The women’s tennis team showed no sluggishness after a
two-and-a-half-week break, handing Arizona and Arizona State 6-1
defeats last weekend at the Los Angeles Tennis Center. No. 12
UCLA’s win over No. 8 Arizona State was its first victory
over a top-10 opponent this season.

On Friday, UCLA (12-5, 3-1) took control early by securing the
doubles point despite the absence of No. 10 Sara Walker, who was
out with a back injury. Freshmen Jackie Carleton and Feriel
Esseghir highlighted UCLA’s doubles performance with an 8-6
win on court one.

In singles play No. 23 Carleton was narrowly defeated by No. 20
Emilie Scribot 6-3, 7-5, but UCLA’s other singles players
were victorious to give the Bruins the 6-1 triumph.

“We had a good, tough spring break, and it was good to see
all of that hard work pay off,” UCLA head coach Stella
Sampras Webster said.

“It’s great to see the team playing better. We are
definitely a better team now than we were at the beginning of the
season,” she said.

UCLA’s improvement was particularly evident on Saturday
when it faced Arizona State. The Sun Devils edged the Bruins 4-3
when the two teams met February in Tempe, but this matchup was a
very different story. Walker was back in the lineup, and the Bruins
were able to capture all three doubles matches.

Carleton and Esseghir turned in an 8-3 win at No. 1, Walker and
Laura Gordon won 8-5 at No. 2, and Sarah Gregg and Susi Wild gave
an 8-5 victory at No. 3. Sampras Webster credits much of the
team’s recently improved play to its ability to secure wins
in doubles.

“Having Feriel in the lineup makes us so much stronger in
doubles,” Sampras Webster said. “Winning the doubles
point has made a big difference for us.”

In singles play the top five courts were dominated by UCLA, and
each match ended in a straight-set victory for the Bruins. It was
one of their most lopsided wins this year, despite the fact that
the opponent was one of the strongest the Bruins have faced thus
far.

“It was one of the first times that everyone on the team
came together and played some of their best tennis,” Carleton
said. “We got the doubles point convincingly and just went
from there.”

The Bruins have struggled to get consistent production out of
the bottom half of their singles lineup throughout the year, but
this weekend the bottom three players were a combined 5-1.

“Our players at four, five and six are winning matches.
They are playing better tennis and getting results,” Sampras
Webster said. “That takes a lot of pressure off of our top
players.”

The Bruins will now look to carry the momentum from last weekend
into this weekend’s matches at the Los Angeles Tennis Center
against national powerhouses Cal on Friday and Stanford on
Saturday. Friday’s match will start at 1:30 p.m. and
Saturday’s match will be at noon. Cal is currently ranked No.
4 and Stanford is No. 2, but the team believes it is capable of
pulling off a couple of upsets.

“We’re confident coming off of our two wins against
the Arizona schools,” Walker said. “(Cal and Stanford)
aren’t any better than we are, so as long as everyone is
healthy and playing well we should be able to beat them.”

Stanford has been the team’s arch rival for several years,
and the Bruins are looking to avenge their struggles against the
Cardinal last year. The team also understands that Cal is a more
than formidable opponent that must be taken very seriously. With
only three weeks left in the regular season, this weekend is a
chance for the Bruins to make a serious statement to the college
tennis world.