Kaitlin Ray’s Southern manners hitched a ride with her to California, for better or worse. The Arkansas native still receives strange looks when her “Yes sir, no sir” talk slips into everyday conversation.

However, Ray has been anything but polite to her opponents this season, cruising to straight-set victories in the first three matches.

Ray and the No. 4 UCLA women’s tennis team figures to show little Southern hospitality in hosting Thursday’s game against Loyola Marymount.

The Bruins are playing in their fourth straight home game to open the year and are looking to complete their third consecutive shutout of annual rival Loyola.

The early dominance of Ray and fellow freshman Chanelle Van Nguyen helped the Bruins earn an invitation to the ITA Indoor Championships on Saturday.

“Thank goodness we have depth with Kaitlin and Chanelle, because I feel very confident that they can win at 5 and 6 against any team,” coach Stella Sampras Webster said.

The pair of freshmen came up particularly big with wins against Utah, a team that upended senior McCall Jones and pushed the Bruins’ top singles player, freshman Robin Anderson, to three sets in a non-decision.

Ray and Van Nguyen have blown the doors off of their competition so far: at the No. 5 singles spot, Ray dropped no more than a game in each of her first six sets this season, and Van Nguyen, at No. 6, surrendered only three games in four sets over the weekend.

In Webster’s eyes, the two make strong cases for holding onto spots vacated by sophomore Courtney Dolehide and senior Carling Seguso, both of whom have struggled with injury.

“It’s going to be a tough decision on who will come out (as the singles players) because (Ray and Van Nguyen) have done everything right,” Webster said.

The coach’s cautious approach in bringing Dolehide (stress fracture) and Seguso (Achilles) out of their restriction to doubles play grants the freshman pair more chances to make their case for full-time singles gigs.

“We want to make sure Courtney and Car(ling) come back into the lineup when they’re ready. We believe in our depth, so we’ll take our time,” Webster said.

Seguso took a step toward her own goal of re-entering the singles lineup by teaming with the Bruins’ only other senior, Jones, for doubles victories against Utah and St. Mary’s.

Though the 8-2, 8-1 results suggest little difficulty for the senior, they fail to capture the lingering pain plaguing Seguso.

“(My injury) hurts in warm up, but when I play, my adrenaline kicks in and it doesn’t hurt as much. I’m definitely not 100 percent, but I’m trying to find an in-between where I can handle the pain but not overdo it,” Seguso said. “I’m trying to take it easy, and hopefully make it back to singles soon.”

While Ray and Seguso, among others, will ultimately compete for singles spots, the senior maintains that the first-years’ success presents the opportunity to improve her own play.

“(The freshmen) are winning and doing well, and I don’t look at it like I need to beat them. I just have to think that I need to come back and play that much better, and I want to,” Seguso said.

Ray also remains well-mannered with regards to her status on the team. “As the season goes on, I think each of us is trying to just play whatever role we need to on this team,” Ray said.