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MALIBU SURFSIDE NEWS | November 23, 2018 | 19
Pepperdine’s Lahey seeks redemption in France
Team USA, defeated
by Great Britain last
year, ready to return
CHRIS MEGGINSON, Freelance
Reporter
There is unfinished business
in France.
Pepperdine University
women’s tennis junior Ashley
Lahey and USC’s Brandon
Holt, both ranked preseason
No. 4 in the NCAA,
will return to eastern
France next week as members
of Team USA, looking
to reclaim the Master’U International
Collegiate Team
Competition title from
Great Britain.
Lahey and Holt, who
each competed in the 2017
Master’U, are the only two
returners on the six-person
Team USA for the 13th annual
Master’U, sponsored
by BNP Paribas.
“It’s a huge opportunity
and a super, super fun experience,”
Lahey said. “I feel
extremely blessed to get
to experience once more.
It’s a great opportunity to
represent my country. You
don’t really get a whole lot
of chances to do that.
“The fact that they picked
me twice makes me feel really,
really special. There
are so many awesome players
they could have picked
and would have loved to
have this experience.”
The tournament will
bring together more than 40
players from eight nations
to battle on one court over
three days, Nov. 30-Dec. 2,
in confrontations of seven
matches each. This year’s
event will be played in Seyssins,
France, a small city
Pepperdine tennis player ashley lahey ranked as high as No. 3 in the nation last year.
BILL KALLENBERG/PEPPERDINE ATHLETICS
in the metro area of Grenoble,
which is known as the
Capitol of the Alps and located
near the France/Switzerland
border.
Great Britain defeated
the U.S. in the finals last
year, ending a six-year run
by the U.S. This year, Great
Britain will look to defend
its crown against not only
the United States, but Belgium,
China, France, Germany,
Ireland and Italy.
“I’d love to go back and
get some redemption and
hopefully get a rematch
against Great Britain,” Lahey
said. “I love playing
for Pepperdine, it gives me
such pride, but playing for
my country is on a whole
other level. I’m fighting
for something bigger. It’s
fun to put on the jersey that
says USA on it and going
out there competing my
hardest.”
Lahey, who is from
Hawthorne, California,
says one of the best parts
of Master’U is experiencing
the atmosphere of all
matches being played on
center court at the Seyssins’
League Center in front of
an expected 2,000-3,000
spectators.
“Everyone is just going
wild,” said Lahey, who says
she is ecstatic to play in that
kind of environment again.
“The atmosphere is so incredible.
You’re coming up
with team cheers, hanging
out with your teammates
who have become really
close friends, really quick
… and playing when everyone’s
watching. I love it. I
thrive on it.”
The tournament is formatted
in a style which is
part Fed Cup and part Davis
Cup, as each confrontation
includes the best-of-seven
matches: two women’s
singles matches, two men’s
singles matches, a women’s
doubles, men’s doubles and
a decisive mixed doubles
if the confrontation is tied,
3-3.
Lahey, who finished runner-up
in the 2018 NCAA
Singles Championships
and was runner-up at the
ITA National Doubles earlier
this month, says her
main focus for the week is
to enjoy the atmosphere,
explore a new city at the
base of the Alps and make
new friendships with her
Team USA teammates and
players from around the
world.
“It’s so far removed
from anything else I’ve
ever done,” she said. “You
spend so much time together
within the few days that
you really get to know each
other.”
Ranked as high as No. 3
in the nation last year, Lahey
says she plans to take
the same approach when
her Pepperdine season resumes
in January.
“I don’t want to go into it
with any expectations, because
I don’t want to put the
priority in the wrong place.
Results is not the priority,”
Lahey said. “I just want to
improve and focus on getting
better in every match,
getting better in practice …
soak up the experience and
let go of the results.”
Lahey and Holt will be
joined in France by UCLA’s
Jada Hart, Duke freshman
Maria Mateas, Florida’s
Oliver Crawford and Georgia’s
Emil Reinberg.
The team will be coached
by Greg Patton, who has
been a USA National Team
coach at various levels for
the last three decades and
recently retired as Boise
State University’s coach.
Patton will be joined by
Cal head coach Amanda
Augustus and Cal Poly associate
head coach Garrett
Patton.
Coverage of the tournament
can be found at www.
master-u-bnpparibas.com.