Women’s tennis seeks victory in rematch with USC
By Richard Kaumeyer
April 18, 2013 12:37 a.m.
Last month, the USC women’s tennis team celebrated an upset victory on UCLA’s home court. Today, the Bruins will travel to their crosstown rival’s court to try to return the favor.
The Bruins lost 4-2 to the Trojans in a match earlier this season that had multiple rain delays and did not finish until 8:15 p.m., six hours and 45 minutes after its scheduled start time. UCLA won the doubles point, but lost four out of six singles matches.
Coach Stella Sampras Webster said that the loss did not sit well with her players, but felt it was important for the team.
“The loss really hurt the girls,” Sampras Webster said. “But it definitely taught our team a lesson about dealing with adversity and how to prepare for matches, to make sure they are mentally and physically ready.”
The loss to the Trojans earlier this season drove the Bruins to work even harder this week during practice.
“The team as a whole wants to work hard and do well and win against ’SC this week because we don’t want to lose twice to ’SC in one season,” said sophomore Robin Anderson. “Everyone is pumped to play ’SC.”
Since the loss to the Trojans, though, the Bruins’ look has changed. Gone are the doubles teams that UCLA faced USC with previously; new pairings that were recently implemented by Sampras Webster will now face a big test against the Trojans’ lineup.
USC’s doubles feature the No. 2 pair in the nation, as well as two other ranked teams. Despite the skill of the Trojans and the lack of experience with new partners on the Bruins’ side, the coach said she was excited for the new matchups.
“We are going to go in with some doubles teams that haven’t played a whole lot,” Sampras Webster said. “It will be exciting to see how we match up against them in doubles.”
Senior Pamela Montez also was excited for the doubles matchups and saw them as key to the Bruins’ chances of winning today.
“The doubles point is very important for us. Lately we have been struggling a little with it,” Montez said. “It’s about keeping our intensity up the entire time.”
