UCLA
UC Santa Barbara (First Round)
UCLA Begins NCAA Play at Pepperdine
May 11, 2017 | Women's Tennis
LOS ANGELES -- The UCLA women's tennis team will stay in the Los Angeles area for its NCAA Regional, the NCAA Selection Committee announced Tuesday. Twelfth-seeded Pepperdine will host the first and second-round matches at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center in Malibu, Calif from May 12-13. The Bruins will take on UC Santa Barbara in their first-round match on Friday, May 12 (10:00 a.m.). The Gauchos finished 17-9 overall and 7-1 in Big West play. They claimed their second consecutive tournament title last week with a 4-1 win over Hawaii. UCLA previously defeated UC Santa Barbara, 4-0, on Feb. 4 at Sunset Canyon Tennis Courts. Pepperdine (21-4, 9-0 in WCC play) and LIU Brooklyn (13-5, 5-0 Northeast Conference) round out the field by virtue of conference championship and will face off at 1:00 p.m. The winners will meet Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
UCLA vs. UC Santa Barbara -- The Bruins hold a 31-0 all-time record against the Gauchos, including a 4-0 win at Sunset Canyon Tennis Courts on Feb. 4. The match served as the second half of UCLA's home-opening doubleheader. With the teams knotted at one doubles win each, the Bruin pair of Gabby Andrews and Kristin Wiley clinched the first point of the day with a 6-4 win over Jaimee Gilbertson and Natalie Da Silveira on Court 3. Jada Hart, Terri Fleming and Ena Shibahara went on to record straight-set wins in singles play to complete the sweep. The Bruins hold a 54-15 record against potential second-round opponent Pepperdine, including a 5-2 loss on Feb. 26. UCLA has never faced LIU Brooklyn.
Pac-12 Championships Recap -- In a quarterfinal match at the Ojai Valley Athletic Club, the fourth-seeded Bruins faced a stiff test from a determined Oregon team, seeded fifth. The Ducks set the tone early, as they gave the Bruins their first doubles-point loss in 12 matches. Then, after dropping the first set, Shibahara rallied to defeat Alyssa Tobita on Court 1, 1-6, 6-3, 6-1, and even the score. UCLA went on to establish a 3-1 lead, but Oregon rallied with three-set wins on Courts 4, 2 and 5 to advance to the semifinals.
NCAA Singles, Doubles Draws -- Shibahara, as well as the doubles team of Hart-Shibahara, earned the Pac-12's automatic berths into the NCAA Division I singles and doubles championships. Both competitions will take place May 24-29 at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Georgia.
Freshman Sensation -- Freshman Shibahara is in the midst of a lengthy singles winning streak heading into the NCAA Championships. The first-year player, who holds a 37-5 record on the year (17-2 in dual-match play) has won 11 straight matches from her Court 1 position. In doubles, meanwhile, the duo of Shibahara-Wiley lost its first match of the season during the quarterfinal round of the Pac-12 Championships. The pair is now 9-1. Another freshman, Hart, has an 18-10 overall singles record (11-7 in dual matches) and a 27-6 doubles mark (16-3 in dual-match play).
UCLA in the ITA Rankings -- Despite their loss in Ojai, the Bruins remained entrenched at No. 23 in the latest Oracle/ITA Division I Women's National Team Rankings, which were announced Thursday, May 4. Singles rankings were also updated Tuesday, as Shibahara rounded out the top five players in the nation. In doubles, meanwhile, three Bruins doubles teams also found themselves ranked in the top 100. Hart-Shibahara checked in at No. 12, Fleming-Hart followed at No. 32 and Andrews-Miller rounded out the trio of teams, as it rose to No. 58.
Doubles Domination -- UCLA recently ran off 11 consecutive doubles points from March 4 through April 22. The teams of Fleming-Hart, Andrews-Miller and Shibahara-Wiley have gone a combined 23-5 over that stretch. They are also 8-0 against nationallly-ranked opponents. On the dual-match season, Bruin doubles teams are 37-12, including 21-5 in conference play.
Player of the Week Honors -- The Bruins completed the regular season with four Pac-12 Player of the Week awards. That number was tied for most in the conference, with California and USC. UCLA's Hart (Jan. 30, April 10) and Shibahara (Feb. 6, March 13) earned the honors for the Bruins. Only three honorees claimed more than one award on the year--Hart, Shibahara and USC's Gabby Smith, who won three. UCLA has garnered 19 all-time Pac-12 Player of the Week nods.
Sampras Webster Nears 400 -- UCLA head coach Stella Sampras Webster currently holds a career record of 396-151, placing her four victories short of the 400-win milestone. Already the winningest coach in program history, she has led the Bruins to two NCAA Championships in her 21 seasons. Her teams have also tallied four runner-up finishes. Prior to becoming head coach, Sampras Webster played four seasons at UCLA under predecessor Bill Zaima. Those teams recorded four straight NCAA top-three finishes, while Sampras Webster was named an All-American each of those seasons.
Professional Bruins -- January's Australian Open provided a plethora of moments to make Bruin supporters proud. Jennifer Brady, a two-time All-American who advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Singles Draw in 2015, reached the Round of 16 in Melbourne with a win over 14th-seeded Elena Vesnina of Russia. She joined Barbara Gerken (U.S. Open quarterfinals, 1981), Patricia Hy-Boulais (Wimbledon fourth round, 1997) and Kimberly Po (Australian Open quarterfinals, 1997 and U.S. Open fourth round, 1998) as Bruin tennis alums to reach the Round of 16 in a Grand Slam tournament. Another Bruin tennis alum, Abigail Spears, also starred Down Under. Spears, who starred for UCLA in 2000, claimed the Australian Open mixed doubles championship alongside partner Juan Sebastian Cabal.The win marked the first Grand Slam title for the pair, which knocked off the second-seeded duo of Sania Mirza and Ivan Dodig, 6-2, 6-4, despite being unseeded.
Players Mentioned
