Teams: No. 65 UC Davis vs. No. 64 UC Santa Barbara; vs. UC Riverside
Records: Aggies, 14-4 (4-1); Gauchos, 11-7 (4-1); Highlanders, 5-10 (0-5)
Where: Marya Welch Tennis Center
When: Saturday at 11:00 a.m.; Sunday at 11:00 a.m.
Who to watch: Coach Bill Maze can only praise freshman Kelly Chui.
“She’s on fire,” Maze said. “Her ground strokes are rock solid, and she has really good [presence] on the court.”
The Milpitas, Calif. native has lost only four singles matches this season, and was the only player to earn a point last week against Cal Poly.
Did you know? This weekend marks the start of three straight Big West Conference matches for the Aggies – a streak that will determine their seeding for the conference tournament.
Preview: Coach Bill Maze would like to see his UC Davis women’s tennis team receive a top-three seed in the Big West Championships at the end of the month.
In order for that to happen, the Aggies must knock off top conference competition, including the Gauchos this weekend.
“Santa Barbara is always tough,” Maze said. “But so are we.”
Maze is confident that his team will be ready to face the tough competition. He said nothing changes in practice before these important matches.
“We work on the basics,” Maze said. “You don’t want to get too complicated before a match.”
Still, the team has been working to improve their doubles play. The Aggies have lost the doubles point in each of their four losses this year.
“We have to get better at closing the net,” Maze said. “First serve percentage is really important in doubles.”
After facing UCSB, the Aggies will play unranked UC Riverside. The Highlanders have yet to record a conference victory.
In addition to the conference matches, UC Davis is hoping to see the return of sophomore Ellie Edles, who missed the last two matches with injury.
“She’s an inspiration to the team, and she hates not being in there,” Maze said.
– Caelum Shove
