A fiery home crowd, with its on “Bruins” yells, 8-claps and “Ole Ole UCLA” chants may have arranged the soundtrack for Friday’s match against California, but the climax to the women’s tennis victory was orchestrated by Pamela Montez, who punctuated an ice-cold performance with a quiet shot to the alley that sealed a 4-3 victory for UCLA.
The junior’s winning hit followed a barrage of swaps in and out of advantage that kept the No. 98 player in the country on edge in the closing moments of her third, match-deciding set.
“It was very nerve-racking because I have a tendency to freak out when (a lot of points get traded late). It was almost like if you don’t win this game, the very last game, you might not win the match,” said Montez, who finished her first singles match in six tries.
Coach Stella Sampras Webster refrained from adding her words to the chorus of voices at the Los Angeles Tennis Center, despite Montez being in the unfamiliar territory of having to determine the result of UCLA’s match.
“This is the best she’s played all year, and this is huge for building her confidence. She hasn’t been feeling 100 percent, but the way she competed today was unbelievable,” Sampras Webster said. “It was all her. She really figured things out, gutted it out. She was seeing the ball so well in that third set that I didn’t want to say anything to her. She was so focused.”
Montez was the first Bruin to get a feel for having everyone’s attention in a season where Sampras Webster’s staff has preached to players the importance of taking care of her own court. The victory over Cal, which was without Jana Juricova, the nation’s No. 2 player, is UCLA’s only 4-3 dual-match win so far.
On a day when the doubles point was won on two big comebacks, Montez was not alone with the late-game heroics. After Montez and freshman Chanelle Van Nguyen were easily handled in an 8-2 loss, seniors McCall Jones and Carling Seguso broke off a seven-game winning frenzy to erase a 1-4 hole and tie the doubles point. The No. 12 team of freshmen Robin Anderson and Skylar Morton trailed 1-5 at one juncture before winning seven of its final eight games to stun the Bears.
All the momentum built by the furious doubles finish quickly fizzled for UCLA, as straight set losses suffered by No. 90 Jones, No. 6 Anderson and No. 121 Morton pushed the Bruins to the brink of their undefeated season.
No. 102 Van Nguyen overcame a rough 1-6 first set by closing her match 6-3, 6-2 to pull the Bruins within a point of Cal. Fellow freshman No. 61 Kaitlin Ray prevailed in a second-set tiebreaker to go 6-2, 7-6(4) and leave the match tied at 3-3.
“I realized that I needed to dictate play more, and so I was trying towards the end in that tiebreak to really win the points on my terms and dictate earlier in the point, so I was looking for short balls and (trying to) execute a (volley),” Ray said.
Having beaten its Pac-12 rivals, UCLA has turned their perfect season up to 11-0, its hottest start in 20 years. The Bruins now own a signature home-win that, according to Ray, showcases the ability of an electric crowd to fuel the team.
“The atmosphere was unbelievable. It was probably the loudest college tennis atmosphere I’ve been a part of here at home. … It just brings out the intensity. To be able to hear the crowd support (Pam) made it really special,” Ray said.