UCLA
Georgia (Semifinal)
Women's Tennis Downs Georgia, 4-1 to Advance to NCAA Final
May 19, 2015 | Women's Tennis
Waco, Texas - The UCLA women's tennis team will play for its second-straight NCAA title on Tuesday, as the seventh-seeded Bruins notched a 4-1 victory over sixth-seeded Georgia in the NCAA Semifinals on Monday. The Bruins (23-4) will meet fourth-seeded Vanderbilt (24-6) for the national title at 5:00 p.m. (CST) at Baylor's Hurd Tennis Complex. The Commodores upset top-seeded USC, 4-0 in the other semifinal on Monday.
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With UCLA leading the match 3-1, senior Kaitlin Ray registered one of the biggest victories of her career, downing Georgia's Caroline Brinson, 7-6(3), 6-2 at court No. 6 to send UCLA to the final. It was a significant win for Ray, who has had all four of her NCAA matches this year suspended. She didn't let that happen on Monday.
"It's just such a privilege to be a part of a program where you wake up every morning with a chance to win a national title," said Ray. "It's really all you can ask for as an athlete. I just have unbelievable teammates out there that have my back when I have off nights. They're there for me, and tonight I clinched the match and I was there for them."
The Bruins didn't get out to the start they wanted to against the Bulldogs (24-7), who stormed out to a 1-0 lead by taking the doubles point. UCLA got into a hole right off the bat, suffering an 8-2 loss at court No. 3. Things didn't look good at court No. 2 either, as Georgia would eventually serve for the match up 7-5. The two teams were in a tiebreaker at court No. 1 when play was suspended for roughly an hour due to lightning. The Bulldogs would end up clinching the point at court No. 1, where 11th-ranked Lauren Herring and Ellen Perez upset ninth-ranked Robin Anderson and Jennifer Brady, 8-7(1). Georgia also had match point up 7-6 at court No. 2 when play was suspended.
"I feel like we came out strong in the first two doubles but we let up a little bit and let Georgia back into those 1 and 2 doubles at the end," said UCLA head coach Stella Sampras Webster. "So that was disappointing to lose that doubles point. I don't think we played as well as we did yesterday in doubles, and we just played a little bit tentative and not as aggressive."
UCLA, which also lost the doubles point in the team's round of 16 victory over Texas A&M on Friday, wasn't fazed by the setback and knew that a comeback was certainly within reach. As a result, the Bruins got off to a solid start in singles play, winning first sets at four courts. In fact Brady, the nation's 47th-ranked player, was able to put UCLA right back in it at court No. 3, where she quickly dispatched of 94th-ranked Silvia Garcia, 6-3, 6-0 to even the score at 1-1.
Junior Catherine Harrison, who suffered the only loss in UCLA's 4-1 upset of No. 2 North Carolina on Sunday, also turned in a convincing singles victory, as her 6-1, 6-3 win over 59th-ranked Kennedy Shaffer put the Bruins up 2-1.
Playing next door at court No. 2, senior Chanelle Van Nguyen faced the hard-hitting Perez, who beat her in Georgia's victory over UCLA at the National Team Indoors earlier this season. Van Nguyen was the better player on this day, taking a 6-3, 6-3 victory to give the Bruins a 3-1 lead. At the time of Van Nguyen's victory, UCLA was in good shape at the other three courts, as Ray was leading Brinson, 4-2 in the second set at court No. 6, while both Anderson (court No. 1) and Kyle McPhillips (court No. 5) were looking to send their matches to third sets. Most of the attention, however, was focused on Ray, who was able to hold serve for a 5-2 lead. With Brinson serving to stay in the match, Ray worked her way to a 40-15 lead in the game, converting her first match point when Brinson sailed a forehand beyond the baseline.
"There was never a doubt and I'm really proud of the way they competed and left it all out there," added Sampras Webster. "Kaitlin has probably never clinched a match for us because her matches are so long. For her to clinch this match is just unbelievable and I'm so happy for her to be able to do that. Georgia is a tough team, they really come after you, and I felt we played really good tennis. We had to in order to beat them. I'm just happy for the team to be back and playing for a national championship, and this is such a great opportunity.”
For Ray, who is not competing in the NCAA Individual Championships later this week, Tuesday marks the last time she will ever step on the court representing UCLA.
"It's my last match, win or lose," said Ray. "You walk off the court with your head held high knowing you left every drop out there. It's going to be a special day. I can't wait to fight with my teammates."
Notes: The all-time series between UCLA and Vanderbilt is tied at 2-2 (Last Meeting: UCLA def. Vanderbilt, 4-1 at the 2013 National Team Indoors in Charlottesville, Va.) ... UCLA leads the nation in NCAA team titles with 112 ... The women's tennis team is seeking its third NCAA title and fourth overall national championship (UCLA won the AIAW title in 1981) ... UCLA's other titles came in 2008 and 2014, the program's 102nd and 111th NCAA titles, respectively ... UCLA is now 5-8 all-time against Georgia ... The Bruins downed North Carolina, 4-3 to win the 2014 NCAA title in Athens, Ga.
NCAA Semifinals
#6 UCLA 4, #7 Georgia 1
May 18, 2015 at Waco, TX (Hurd Tennis Center)
| Doubles |
| 1. #11 Herring/Perez (UGA) def. #9 Anderson/Brady (UCLA) 8-7(1) |
| 2. #43 Garcia/Shaffer (UGA) vs. #3 Harrison/McPhillips (UCLA) 7-6, unfinished |
| 3. #85 Brinson/King (UGA) def. Van Nguyen/Kristin Wiley (UCLA) 8-2 |
Georgia Wins Doubles Point
| Singles |
| 1. #5 Lauren Herring (UGA) vs. #1 Robin Anderson (UCLA) 6-3, 3-6, unfinished |
| 2. #21 Chanelle Van Nguyen (UCLA) def. #63 Ellen Perez (UGA) 6-3, 6-3 |
| 3. #47 Jennifer Brady (UCLA) def. #94 Silvia Garcia (UGA) 6-3, 6-0 |
| 4. #33 Catherine Harrison (UCLA) def. #59 Kennedy Shaffer (UGA) 6-1, 6-3 |
| 5. #88 Hannah King (UGA) vs. #35 Kyle McPhillips (UCLA) 6-3, 4-6, 1-0, unfinished |
| 6. #109 Kaitlin Ray (UCLA) def. #104 Caroline Brinson (UGA) 7-6(3), 6-2 |
| Match Notes |
| UCLA 22-4; National ranking #6 |
| Georgia 26-4; National ranking #7 |
| Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (3,4,2,6) |
Players Mentioned
