For all the blue and red blood that runs in the Los Angeles sports rivalry, UCLA’s and USC’s women’s tennis teams share the same true colors. All of 12 miles separate the Bruins from the Trojans, but the distance between the programs has been even shorter this season, as the two squads have been nothing short of gold.
Thursday’s match between the Bruins and the Trojans promises to be a clash for supremacy between squads whose seasons have followed a similar trajectory thus far. UCLA and USC are the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the country, respectively, and the Trojans’ one loss came at the hands of the Bruins.
At least half of each team’s singles players are freshmen, with a freshman claiming her school’s top spot, and both programs reached the top of the rankings on the strength of 4-3 home wins against Cal.
The all-time series would be knotted up at 44-44 should UCLA win, though coach Stella Sampras Webster only concerns herself with this installment of the rivalry.
“Every time we play, it’s so unpredictable. It doesn’t matter about rankings or past results, it’s just a battle. Nothing’s personal, it’s just a matter of battling it out and wanting to get that win over the crosstown rival,” Sampras Webster said.
This year’s Trojans, who Sampras Webster regards as “the best team (USC has) had in a long time,” are well equipped to snap the Bruins’ five-match winning streak in the series.
USC possesses three top-30 players compared to UCLA’s one, though No. 5 Robin Anderson ranks higher than any Trojan, and the Bruins field seven ranked players against USC’s four.
Sampras Webster insists that depth often makes the difference for title-winning teams, and her team validated her earlier this month when UCLA won the doubles point and bottom three singles matches to bounce USC en route to winning the ITA Indoor National Championship.
The Bruins are a combined 26-1 on courts No. 4 to 6 this season.
Anderson and Skylar Morton, the No. 14 freshman duo, get another shot at the No. 3 USC pairing that they are 1-1 against in their UCLA careers. Regarding her doubles game, Anderson sees much need for improvement against a complete tandem.
“Kaitlin (Christian is) really strong at the net, and Sabrina (Santamaria is) really solid from the baseline,” Anderson said. “The couple of times when we (played) them, we weren’t executing as well, especially the first time we played.”
Anderson continues to become well acquainted with the front and back end of the Trojan lineup: She has already played against USC’s top singles player twice as a Bruin. The freshman has a high level of respect in particular for the Trojan’s best player.
“Every single time we play we do force each other to play the best we can. It’s always a battle against her; she’s such a good player,” Anderson said of her good friend No. 13 Zoe Scandalis, whom she lost to at the Freeman Memorial Championship in January.
Anderson and Scandalis played a three-set, no-decision match at the Indoor National Championship, with Anderson leading when the match was called.
Sampras Webster sees a spirited road game against Westwood’s nemesis as a psychological test for her young team.
“(USC will) have their band there; the atmosphere will be incredible, the energy high, and so I’m looking forward to see how our players … deal with that kind of challenge,” Sampras Webster said.
“There’s so much riding on it, the rivalry, the ranking and I just hope they don’t get caught up in it.”
Senior McCall Jones has no qualms about the hostile environment, which she believes can fuel the Bruins and close any gap between the teams afforded by home court advantage.
“Even though (most of the fans will not) cheer for us, it still gives our team a lot of energy to work with rather than being flat and bringing all the energy ourselves,” Jones said.