Monday, May 18
Tough Schmidt
NCAA Individual Championship contender dominates tennis courts
with skill, personality
By Jeff KmiotekDaily Bruin ContributorSchmidt happens.She
happens to be a tremendous tennis player and a tremendous person.
After struggling with her game earlier this year, Elizabeth Schmidt
has persevered to become one of the most dominating players on the
collegiate tennis circuit.And Schmidt is legit, winning seven of
her last eight matches to close out the regular season and vault
into the national rankings at No. 60. Two of those victories were
against No. 17 Teryn Ashley of top-ranked Stanford.As a reward for
her terrific play, Schmidt has been named to compete in the NCAA
Individual Championships next week at Notre Dame, a great honor
indeed.Elizabeth Schmidt is the prototypical athlete any coach
would love to have. She’s the hardest worker on the team, and the
most liked. She’s the type of player who arrives at practice first
and is the last one to leave."You can’t say anything bad about
Elizabeth," head coach Stella Sampras said. "If you talk to any
player on our team, she’s probably the one who everyone goes to.
She gets along with everyone. She’s a quality person and an
excellent tennis player."Schmidt credits her determination and the
strong support of her coaches for her recent hot streak. She
slumped through a six-game slide midway through the season, but put
in some extra time and stuck with it. Schmidt says it best, that
"hard work pays off."That hard work paid off with the combined
blessings of a national ranking and the opportunity to compete with
63 of the country’s best players at the NCAA Championships."One of
my goals at the beginning of the year was to make it to the NCAAs
as an individual and as a team, and my goals didn’t change. I knew
I had to keep working, and if I made it, I made it. If I didn’t,
life goes on."Schmidt sure did make it, and so did her team. And
typifying her role as co-captain, there’s only one thing
circulating through her mind."I’m not even thinking about
individuals right now because I’m so excited for the team because
we’re all coming together," Schmidt said, exhibiting that she
really is a team player and team leader.When Schmidt hits the
court, she’s as fierce and competitive as they come. She excels at
getting to the net to put her opponents away. Schmidt tends not to
serve and volley, except in doubles matches. She admires Stefan
Edberg’s gracefulness, and likes to model her game after Steffi
Graf."I like her big forehand. That’s what I’m trying to develop,
because the forehand is always a great weapon. Hopefully mine will
be like hers next week (at the NCAAs)," Schmidt said with a
grin.Off the court, Schmidt’s just a fun-loving college student. An
athlete at heart, she loves all sports, especially water and snow
skiing. She even collected baseball cards as a kid."I have like a
million baseball cards," she said.She also enjoys listening to
music, especially her favorite singer, Tracy Chapman. Chapman’s
latest album is titled "New Beginning," which is a fitting title
for the way Schmidt has been playing of late. She began in March
with a record of 9-13, but has since taken her game to a new level.
Her record has jumped to 20-18, and she even earned an honorable
mention All-Pac-10.But Schmidt, a native Texan, almost didn’t
became a member of the Pac-10.In fact, prior to her recruiting
trip, Schmidt thought UCLA would be the last place she would end
up."My recruiting trip made me come here. I loved it, the coaches,
the girls and the area. I can’t see myself anywhere else," she said
with sincerity. "Coming to UCLA was the best decision I’ve made in
my life."And her teammates and coaches couldn’t agree more. They
have welcomed her with open arms."Elizabeth is great to have on the
team," said Pac-10 Player of the Year Annica Cooper. "She has a
great attitude and really picks the team up. She works very hard
and makes everyone else work hard."And fortunately for the Bruins,
Schmidt is just a sophomore and is improving day by day. With a
variety of accolades already under her belt, Schmidt is bound to
bring many more to UCLA.Playing competitively since the age of 11,
Schmidt has been a three-time Texas state champion. She earned
All-American honors last year with Katia Roubanova in doubles, and
competed with the U.S. team when they took on Great Britain in a
battle of worldly proportions. In that tournament, she took home
one of her many sportsmanship awards.And as for the upcoming
seasons, Schmidt is ready to take on whatever comes her way."Every
year I will get a little better and better. That’s what I’m trying
to do. But most of all, I want to go out there and have
fun."Elizabeth possesses the abilities, both on and off the court,
that will show everyone in the world of tennis that, well, she’s
the Schmidt. Coach Sampras put Schmidt’s UCLA contribution in a
nutshell."She’s just great, and I feel lucky to have her as part of
this team because she’s a great role model and representative of
the team and the school."And that’s no Schmidt.