UCLA
Texas A&M (3rd Round)
Seventh-Seeded UCLA Downs No. 10 Texas A&M, 4-1
May 15, 2015 | Women's Tennis
"Overall I was just really proud of my team for dealing with everything" said UCLA head coach Stella Sampras Webster. "To be able to come back and play really well in singles after losing the doubles point was great to see. I think we came out a little nervous and that hurt us. In singles we played a little looser and really just much better overall. This was not an easy match. Texas A&M is a great team."
UCLA entered Friday's contest having won the doubles point in its last 10 matches. The Bruins were able to strike quickly with an 8-3 victory from third-ranked Catherine Harrison at Kyle McPhillips at court No.2. The Aggies, however, were beginning to take control at the other two courts. An 8-5 Texas A&M upset at court No. 1 quickly evened things up, and the Aggies already owned a 7-5 lead at the No. 3 spot. After UCLA's Terri Fleming and Chanelle Van Nguyen held serve to make it 7-6, Texas A&M moved out to a 30-0 lead in the next game before a heavy rain came and forced play indoors. Once play resumed inside, the Aggie duo of Rutuja Bhosale and Saska Gavrilovska quickly closed things out, winning two-straight points to take the 8-6 victory and give their team the one point awarded for doubles play.
With only three indoor courts available to complete the match, singles play kicked off with the top 3 singles players from each team facing off. Straight-set wins by 47th-ranked Jennifer Brady (court No. 3) and No. 21 Van Nguyen (court No. 2) gave UCLA a 2-1 lead. The only other match to start early was at the No. 1 position, where top-ranked Robin Anderson lost the first set to 26th-ranked Rachel Pierson. The Bruin senior proved exactly why she is the No. 1 player in the nation, storming back to lose just two games in the final two sets for a 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 victory to make it 3-1 in favor of UCLA.
With UCLA's bottom-half of the lineup now in singles play, it eventually became clear that the Bruins' best chance at closing out the match was at court No. 4, where the 33rd-ranked Harrison was up a set over Ines Deheza. With the Aggies already up a set at court No. 5 - and threatening to take the first set at court No. 6 - Harrison's match became extremely important. Deheza would move out to a 5-3 second-set lead and even served for the set up 40-0. Harrison didn't buckle, fighting off the three set points before winning four-straight games to take the match, 6-1, 7-5 and put UCLA into the quarterfinals.
"You're always thinking the worst and what could happen," added Sampras Webster on Texas A&M's late rally. "That's why I kept telling Kyle to just keep focused on her match because it could come down to her. You can't just assume that someone else is going to win it. You never know in these matches because momentum switches back and forth so much. Let's just say I'm glad that Cat was able to clinch it so we didn't have to go through that."
UCLA posted a thrilling 4-3 win over North Carolina in last year's NCAA final in Athens, Ga. McPhillips won the clinching match at court No. 3, outlasting Tar Heel Caroline Price in three sets.
"We are excited to play them," said Sampras Webster of North Carolina. "I'm sure it's going to be another battle just like last year. Our players just need to come out looking to win and not be scared out there. North Carolina has had a great season and deserves to be where they are. We've had a good season too so I think it's going to be fun."
NCAA Round of 16
#7 UCLA 4, #10 Texas A&M 1
May 15, 2015 at Waco, Texas (Hurd Tennis Complex)
| Doubles |
| 1. #13 Paalma/Pierson (TAMU) def. #9 Anderson/Brady (UCLA) 8-5 |
| 2. #3 Harrison/McPhillips (UCLA) def. #39 Deheza/Stefania Hristov (TAMU) 8-3 |
| 3. Bhosale/Gavrilovska (TAMU) def. Van Nguyen/Terri Fleming (UCLA) 8-6 |
Texas A&M Wins Doubles Point
| Singles |
| 1. #1 Robin Anderson (UCLA) def. #26 Rachel Pierson (TAMU) 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 |
| 2. #21 Chanelle Van Nguyen (UCLA) def. #54 Saska Gavrilovska (TAMU) 6-3, 6-2 |
| 3. #47 Jennifer Brady (UCLA) def. #66 Rutuja Bhosale (TAMU) 6-3, 6-2 |
| 4. #33 Catherine Harrison (UCLA) def. Ines Deheza (TAMU) 6-1, 7-5 |
| 5. #35 Kyle McPhillips (UCLA) vs. Eva Paalma (TAMU) 2-6, 4-2, unfinished |
| 6. #109 Kaitlin Ray (UCLA) vs. Anna Mamalat (TAMU) 6-7 (4-7), unfinished |
| Match Notes |
| Texas A&M 17-7; National ranking #10 |
| UCLA 22-4; National ranking #7 |
| Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (3,2,1,4) |
Players Mentioned
