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Sarah Gregg won her singles match in straight sets to help the Bruins improve to 3-0 in the seaso

They played without one of their top players. They played against a strong opponent for the first time. But those factors didn’t affect the outcome of the match.

Despite going into Saturday’s match against Pepperdine without Daniela Bercek, the UCLA women’s tennis team pulled out an impressive 5-2 victory against the Waves. Although Bercek, who played No. 1 singles and doubles in the first two matches, was out with the flu, the Bruins (3-0) felt no apprehension as they stepped onto their respective courts.

“We weren’t anxious,” coach Stella Sampras Webster said. “We knew we needed to play hard today, and everyone did an awesome job.”

Indeed, the No. 4 Bruins were nothing short of spectacular in doubles, winning all three matches. The team of Elizabeth Lumpkin and Laura Gordon had the closest score of 8-6. Playing on Court 1, freshmen Riza Zalameda and Alex McGoodwin displayed great chemistry despite not playing with each other before. The duo took care of Pepperdine’s Caroline Raba and Sylvia Kosakowski 8-3.

“It was great playing with Riza,” said McGoodwin, who played with Lumpkin in the team’s first two matches. “Since she has such a strong game at the net, I set her up with my serves.”

With the absence of Bercek, there were a host of Bruins that rose to the occasion. Senior Sarah Gregg, freshman Elizabeth Lumpkin, and junior Laura Gordon, each defeated their opponents in straight sets on Courts 4, 5, and 6 respectively.

Gordon, who was sidelined earlier in the season from a mild case of tendonitis in her wrist, played her first match this season and nicely filled the hole in the lineup left by Bercek.

In the No. 2 spot, Caroline Raba kept Pepperdine’s hopes alive when she beat McGoodwin, 6-3, 6-4. However, UCLA clinched the match at 4-1 when Gregg knocked off Sylvia Kosakowski, 6-0, 7-5. Pepperdine’s only other point came when Bianca Dulgheru defeated Tracy Lin on Court 3.

Despite suffering a couple of lost points, Sampras Webster commended her players on their growth as a team.

“This victory showed me that the team is mature about facing adversity,” she said.

The Bruins will confront plenty of adversity this week as they travel to Madison, Wis., Thursday for the National Team Indoors.